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WatchGuard Network Security

WatchGuard Network Security

Overview

What is WatchGuard Network Security?

WatchGuard Network Security is a network security and firewall software. WatchGuard includes secure Wi-Fi, multi-factor authentication, and network intelligence products and services designed for SMB’s.

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Recent Reviews

Watchguard Review

9 out of 10
June 20, 2024
Incentivized
We currently use WatchGuard firewalls in most of our offices to protect the network. The firewalls are easily configurable and have great …
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Great Product

9 out of 10
June 19, 2024
Use several NGFW clustered in different countries, physical and virtual appliances as well. Same interface, with no learning curves. Used …
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WatchGuard Network Security

9 out of 10
June 03, 2024
t is used for network security, mostly for connectivity between offices; It is very complicated to manage them and monitor the …
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WatchGuard

10 out of 10
May 29, 2024
Incentivized
I use WatchGuard Network Security to protect the company infrastructure, VPN Branch Office secure access to external collaborators via VPN …
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Good Firewall

6 out of 10
May 28, 2024
Incentivized
We use WatchGuard for firewalls, DHCP, DNS and other networking abilities it offers. For our larger clients its proven to be a truly …
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great product

7 out of 10
May 06, 2024
Incentivized
We love WatchGuard products. It is easy to renew the license each year, and when it's time to replace them I have had great success with …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 11 features
  • Policy-based Controls (427)
    8.7
    87%
  • Firewall Management Console (421)
    8.6
    86%
  • Content Inspection (415)
    8.5
    85%
  • Reporting and Logging (418)
    8.0
    80%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Support

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On Premise
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Basic Security

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On Premise
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Total Security

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On Premise
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Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.watchguard.com/wgrd…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Tutorial: Get Started with a WatchGuard Firebox

YouTube
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Features

Firewall

A firewall is a filter that stands between a computer or computer network and the Internet. Each firewall can be programmed to keep specific traffic in or out

8.5
Avg 8.5
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Product Details

What is WatchGuard Network Security?

The WatchGuard Firebox family of firewalls offers critical network security solutions for businesses of all types and sizes, including tabletop and 1U rack-mounted appliances to Cloud and virtual firewalls. Firebox appliances deliver critical security services from standard IPS, URL filtering, gateway AV, application control, and antispam, to advanced protections such as file sandboxing, and DNS filtering. High-performance deep packet inspection (DPI) means users can leverage these security services against attacks attempting to hide in encrypted channels like HTTPS. Additionally, every Firebox offers SD-WAN right out of the box for improved network resiliency and performance.

WatchGuard Network Security Features

Firewall Features

  • Supported: Identification Technologies
  • Supported: Visualization Tools
  • Supported: Content Inspection
  • Supported: Policy-based Controls
  • Supported: Active Directory and LDAP
  • Supported: Firewall Management Console
  • Supported: Reporting and Logging
  • Supported: VPN
  • Supported: High Availability
  • Supported: Stateful Inspection
  • Supported: Proxy Server

WatchGuard Network Security Screenshots

Screenshot of WatchGuard Cloud Customizable DashboardScreenshot of Threat Monitoring SummaryScreenshot of Device Security SummaryScreenshot of Automated ReportingScreenshot of User Authentication SummaryScreenshot of Endpoint Protection Summary

WatchGuard Network Security Video

WatchGuard Network Security

WatchGuard Network Security Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo
Supported CountriesGlobal
Supported LanguagesEnglish, Spanish, French, German, Japanese

Frequently Asked Questions

WatchGuard Network Security is a network security and firewall software. WatchGuard includes secure Wi-Fi, multi-factor authentication, and network intelligence products and services designed for SMB’s.

Fortinet FortiGate, Sophos SG Firewall Appliances, and Cisco Meraki MX are common alternatives for WatchGuard Network Security.

Reviewers rate Stateful Inspection highest, with a score of 9.

The most common users of WatchGuard Network Security are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(813)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 334)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
June 20, 2024

Watchguard Review

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We currently use WatchGuard firewalls in most of our offices to protect the network. The firewalls are easily configurable and have great security features to secure our networks. The device is the first line of defense into our network. We use many of the available features to secure all incoming and outgoing traffic.
  • Security
  • Application Control
  • Traffic managment
  • Logs
  • Bandwidth meter
It is well suited for someone who needs a powerful firewall that is easily configurable and had many available features to be enabled. I have enabled the Geolocation and application management to ensure that specific locations and applications cannot be accessed. I use the easy to configure VPN functionality to make management simpler and will be using the management server to simplify that.
June 19, 2024

Great Product

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Use several NGFW clustered in different countries, physical and virtual appliances as well. Same interface, with no learning curves. Used at the perimeter, connected sites with branch office VPN, and for some, used as a VPN SSL for roaming users. They were bought with the total security suite which provides advanced defense-related features. Globally we use all (or near) the possibilities offered by those devices, and they work as expected.
  • Firewall rules with auto-ordering
  • Bandwidth consistency
  • Branch Office VPN
  • Centralized appliance (Dimension) at no cost is a great solution to consolidate reports from several appliances
  • No possibility to negate terms in rules such as "allow everything from x.x.x.x/yy except x.x.x.z"
  • Mixing rules of pure firewalling with those concerning VPN SSL ends up in something not pleasant and not easily readable, should have a dedicated tab for VPN SSL rules, as the one for IPSEC VPN rules
  • No proxy support for SFTP or FTPS (I know it's quite hard to achieve that)
  • The embedded rule for NTP has never been corrected to remove TCP for port 123
Works great and flawlessly in all different cases I'm confronted with. Even with the tiny appliance NV5, cloud-managed it's a no-time brainer. Never had an issue or had to search for documentation on how to accomplish something unusual, it just... work! The only downside I'm thinking of is the lack of a channel to be notified of updates, having to check from time to time on their website, and while security is concerned, the time gap between an update is available and the time I'm aware it exists is too long. Emailing or something shouldn't be too hard to implement.
A small tip not so well known feature for the readers and owners, you could use regex in the live logging, it's just an option to check, enjoy !
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
We use the VPN to make VPN connections and to secure our services through security services that are included in the device, such as IPS, Anti-Virus and APT Blocker, in addition to blocking the exposed services to the whole world through the geolocation module. We can easily verify connections through the log server. Compared to other vendors, it is much easier to protect ourselves.
  • Easy Configuration
  • Offline Configuration
  • Easy to Deployment
  • Ready-made configuration
  • Policy Filtering Arrow Up Arrow Down
  • Search by Policy
I often find that we replace another vendor's devices with WatchGuard because other providers fail to make their networks as secure as WatchGuard. With simple configuration and easy monitoring, We can quickly generate reports and send them to the customer It has already protected us several times from ransomware attack where others unfortunately failed to do so
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use our WatchGuard [Network Security] across our organization's network. It provides great throughput even while security services are enabled. We're also using its VPN capabilities to keep devices protected for our remote team. We love the option for fiber connectivity and have taken advantage of it to bring a fiber connection all the way down to our switches.
  • Easy to configure
  • Configuration is extremely flexible
  • Great security features.
  • Would be nice to see more AI driven traffic monitoring
  • Would be nice to be able to detect suspicious traffic within the network
  • Cloud management is lacking
WatchGuard's Network Security suite really is a must for any organization big or small. The features are pretty easy to configure and allow for the admin to scale it to the needs of the organization. I really can't think of a scenario where having a solid network security solution would be considered less appropriate.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Used as a firewall to lockdown insecurities, proxy for more secure websurfing, VPN utility for all us to manage remotely and users to work from home. Once we are already setup at each of our clients, it's just steady maintenance and adding things we introduce into the client. We use SSLVPN for some clients and others we've upgraded them to IKEv2. One client we actively are using WatchGuard Network Security Authpoint as well.
  • VPN
  • Support
  • Policies
  • Proxies
  • Clear Network Monitoring tool
  • Simpler way to access logs from users without WatchGuard Network Security Dimensions
  • Allow ports to be altered from within a policy instead of having to create a new one or edit the one used.
  • Make logging option on the front page as a tickbox to avoid having to go to second tab and then clicking the logging button and then ticking the log feature.
Well suited to see current active connections. It lacks in a simple layout of a smaller timeframe that has already occurred of all activity. WatchGuard Network Security Dimensions can solve this but it's clunky. Built-in features with easier capabilities would be better.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
t is used for network security, mostly for connectivity between offices; It is very complicated to manage them and monitor the administration carried out by each connected user.
  • The connection between offices
  • The VPN connection
  • and security blocking on the Internet and intranet and web services
  • Review of incoming emails within the internal network, and a better detail of what happens with emails that enter and leave.
  • In Dimension better granulation or detail how to see the information
  • APs can be viewed locally and Managed locall
The least appropriate thing in Mexico is the Internet in some places is not very stable and the new products they offer can only be Managed in the cloud. This is a lack of vision in Mexico or a mistake
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In my organization, WatchGuard Network Security is used to efficiently control the use of our network and to be able to deliver under internet policies in the safest way for all our users. We apply application control policies, bandwidth management, and control via navigation proxy. In this way, we avoid improper use in our organization of internet resources.
  • Internet packet filtering.
  • Application policy control
  • navigation control through proxy.
  • Botnet Detection
  • Intrusion Prevention
  • Should improve control of who or what consumes the bandwidth.
  • must improve to know which devices are connected to the network.
  • DNS detection improve the captured data.
In my own experience, WatchGuard Network Security is very good at creating packet filtering and application control policies. In this way, correct management of the internet and the applications that access it can be carried out without being always concerned about their control at all times. With WatchGuard Network Security, if you have a good organization of your policies, you can be working very calmly. In what scenario do I consider that if they should improve it is to be able to verify which devices and on which web pages my bandwidth is being consumed. Being able to take quick measures to solve a situation of that magnitude is WatchGuard Network Security should improve a lot.
May 29, 2024

WatchGuard

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
I use WatchGuard Network Security to protect the company infrastructure, VPN Branch Office secure access to external collaborators via VPN client. Management of multiple WAN connections via SDWAN. I also manage navigation rules with groups on Active Directory (Application controller, web blocker etc.).
  • simple and intuitive configuration
  • excellent monitoring management via real-time logs, host watch etc.
  • device management via dimension and/or WatchGuard Cloud is excellent
  • possibility of managing bidirectional communication on sslvpn (openvpn) connections so as to be able to exploit this channel to route traffic to the remote peer.
May 28, 2024

Good Firewall

Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use WatchGuard for firewalls, DHCP, DNS and other networking abilities it offers. For our larger clients its proven to be a truly robust firewall. for out smaller clients, the T series is a beneficial part of their networking ecosystem for DHCP and DNS services, as well ad still being a solid firewall.
  • Firewall
  • Network Switching and routing
  • dhcp and dns
  • traffic routing
  • training
  • documentation
  • local user database management
  • ad authentication
great at what it does for a firewall, duo integration needs some help. overall, they make a good product
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use WatchGaurd to configure our AuthPoint VPN users and manage the security while users remote into the inside network. The biggest problem this product addresses is the security of the internal network. The scope of our use case is on the enterprise level and allows users to securely access the data.
  • Security
  • User management
  • Authpoint Configuration
  • resend token function
This is best suited when an end user is traveling across the world and will be accessing international network. By remoting in using WatchGuard AuthPoint, a layer of network security is added.
Brett Minzer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
When I get to the engineers at WatchGuard their support is fantastic. Configuration and issues causing conflict are always responded to well and relatively quickly with the right motivation relating to response need.
  • Escalate quickly
  • work from a position of information.
  • Answering calls quickly and efficiently
  • Quickly asking about urgency of issues
I work specifically with clients with 25 or less workstations, and the WatchGuard products I use are perfect for this.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Watchguard Network Security and its products to protect our network from outside threats, manage our inside network, and handle multiple connections in-house. It allows us to separate personal Wi-Fi from our business network and connections from the web to an outward-facing website. It also allows us to use multiple internet connections for redundancy.
  • Great interface.
  • Excellent support.
  • Works as needed.
  • N/A
Perfect for a business that wants extra security, help managing multiple internet connections, and the ability to separate personal and business networks.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
In our organization, WatchGuard network security products are used to protect the perimeter and protect endpoints. Every day we filter out a very large flow of unwanted traffic. We use a web blocker together with program control to fully control user traffic. The ease of monitoring and configuration of this equipment reduces support labor costs. The all-in-one principle is a big plus. Helps resolve security issues, search for intrusion attempts and vulnerabilities. Field of activity: retail.
  • Easy Configuration
  • High degree of protection against attacks
  • Long Life time
  • Best support team
  • Increased global settings changes across many devices
  • Expand DDOS protection
  • More integration systems
The product is very suitable for perimeter security as well as wireless network security using its technology. Can be used in any business projects, both large and small. Very simple building and security features including IPsec and SDWAN tunneling. Also, using a mobile VPN, you can connect remote offices with low Internet bandwidth.
April 22, 2024

Great for SMBs

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are an SMB and have been using WatchGuard products across Canada to secure our headquarters, branch offices, and remote workers. Keeping on top of threats, trends, and vulnerabilites has become an easier task through the cloud dashboard. We also use WatchGuard Network Security WatchGuard's Secure Wi-Fi for our infrastructure. WatchGuard Network Security WatchGuard's Secure Wi-Fi cloud is easyily managed and has simplified our WiFi adoption.
  • VPN, Mobile VPN
  • Proxies
  • WebBlocker
  • Traffic management
  • Reporting
  • TDR EOL
It's very fast and easy to add or migrate to new hardware devices.
Authpoint was a no go, mostly because they only support their mobile app and not Authenticator by Microsoft or Google.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
WatchGuard provides one of the most complete firewall products I've used. We use their products as our primary offering to clients to secure small, medium, and large locations. These are also some of the easiest firewalls to configure and understand. We chose to use on-prem management via system manager which allows us to centrally manage, review, and monitor our firewalls.
  • A complete MFA solution to secure workstations, servers, and firewalls
  • Cloud based management
  • A subscription service that's worth our clients money and our time
  • Cloud management + on-prem sync
  • MFA for requiring domain credentials
  • Ability to turn poe on and off
WatchGuard + their subscription is perfect for businesses of 5-10+ employees that are looking for an all in one firewall solution. the fireboxes on their own are great for quickly securing remote locations due to the ability to quickly deploy and configure. The only instance we don't deploy WatchGuard is with a cost conscious small business.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Between our company and our clients, we have over 15 WatchGuard Firebox systems setup in various locations across the country. Have always had good service when needed and the equipment has always been reliable. Highly recommend these units for any SMB partner that needs enterprise level security and reliable service and support.
  • Protection from DOS attacts
  • Secure VPN access from remote locations
  • Reliable Branch Office VPN even if one site has Dynamic IP
  • UI (both through WSM and Web Interface) could be more user friendly
Great choice for SMB's that want/need enterprise grade security.
April 15, 2024

Loving my WatchGuard

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
WatchGuard's Total Security Suite features intrusion prevention, spam blocking, and DNS filtering, offering me enhanced network visibility and the ability to act against threats directly from the web management page. it simplifies securing my network with VLANs and allows for easy cross VLAN secure traffic as well as blocking ALL un-authorized outgoing traffic
  • Geo Blocking allows me to use a VPN and only allow Geo Specific access.
  • IPS - gives me peace of mind that the baddies are not on my network.
  • with Traffic monitoring, I can easily troubleshoot connectivity issues.
  • I cannot think if anything that I could improve upon.
Today’s networks need to be secured by both a Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) and a Universal Threat Management (UTM) device, the WatchGuard is a perfect hybrid solution. I did a lot of research and found the WatchGuard was at or below the competitors price points for similar features. WatchGuard helps a business meet PIPEDA or GDPR requirements and protects them from the und user clicking the wrong thing.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
We are an MSP and utilize WatchGuard firewalls at many of our client's locations.
  • Easy to setup and manage
  • IP/Content blocking
  • Remote monitoring
  • Cost
  • VPN setup was a little confusing at first
  • DNS Server limit
  • SSO
I have not come across a situation yet where WatchGuard was not a great solution. Most clients that have not implemented them have gone another direction because of cost... All have been nonprofit entities with limited funding.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We utilize these WatchGuard Network Security devices at each of our locations, with a redundant cluster at our primary location. The sites are connected using the branch office VPN system. Remote users have several VPN options. This has enabled us to provide vendors with limited network access and a VPN connection while providing our employees with full network access. We also implemented several of the security subscriptions including the Geolocation service which improved web-based attacks on our client computers.
  • They are quick to provide solutions to zero-day exploits.
  • They quickly replace warranted hardware.
  • Technical support will continue to provide good service, even when there is not a fast solution.
  • There have been occasions where a basic functionality such as having two DHCP servers was not supported and required a feature request to address the issue.
  • There are somewhat limited routing functions in the devices that we use.
  • The secondary units sold in a cluster cannot be repurposed as a stand-alone unit. This lowers the cost but limits any future uses.
For anyone looking for an entry to a mid-level firewall system, WatchGuard Network Security has some very well-suited devices. The availability and ease of use of the branch office VPN have been a boon to our business needs. Our stores connect as if connected to a Metro-E but with assured end-to-end encryption on a standard business internet connection.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
We use WatchGuard Network Security Fireboxes to secure the boundary of our networks. These provide good security for cost, and with the advanced firmware, the systems are always being updated with new software and features.
  • Firewall
  • Security
  • SSL VPN
  • the new WatchGuard Cloud environment needs improvement
  • The partner portal is quite complicated
  • Alerts for devices don't have custom options
We recommend WatchGuard products to all our clients to be used in their environments. We also suggest they have the WatchGuard Network Security firewall and the advanced firmware that offers additional services.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use WatchGuard Network Security System Manager for all of our clients. I would say some of the problems would be that it is not the easiest to make quick adjusments for letting a website through part of a network. It takes a bit of work to get to these locations and need to have knowledge of how to do it.
  • Security
  • Renewals
  • Upgrades
  • Hard to use
  • Hard to make changes
  • Easier to navigate GUI
I have enjoyed using WatchGuard Network Security after learning how to use it. It also seems to be very secure as we have not had any issues with security features failing or letting anything negative happen to our clients. It has always been a very positive experience from a firewall managers end of things.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We utilize the network security features to secure our internal network and to secure our user logins with firewalls and AuthPoint. We secure our internal network with the firewalls to keep hackers out and we secure our user logins with AuthPoint for multi-factor authentication. This allows us to keep our entire environment safe and secure.
  • Firewalls
  • Authpoint
  • Firewall integration with various other devices and firewall vendors could be easier.
We have a lot of Government clients that the Network Security has always been perfect for their situation. As far as a less appropriate situation, that I would say is with the smaller clients. These are too robust for their environment causing more configuration adjustments.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Watchguard M200 Firewall device is providing the first point of defense from internet and external connections. We are depending on this firewall to prevent unauthorized access from an external network, allow secure access from remote locations using VPN for authorized users, limit internal users using unauthorized applications, log all communication going through the gateway for future analysis, virus and malware scan at the gate as well as routing between multiple local subnets. Watchguard firewall device provides a complete one device solution for small to medium size company looking for a device [that] can be easily set up and maintained. Compare to Cisco or Sonicwall devices, the setup process takes a lot less time for a small installation.
  • VPN Tunnel setup
  • Firewall policy setup for port based internal service
  • Remote VPN User Setup
  • The number of DNS servers supported is only 2 or 3 depending on the model, 4 or more could make it easier for network clients who want to set up redundant DNS environment
  • I can use more tools to help analysis of incoming and outgoing traffic
Companies with less than 200 nodes looking for simple yet reliable gateway security can use the WatchGuard firewall device. It will cost less and take less time to deploy. Small companies who want to introduce firewalls to the organization the first time or replace aging ones will find WatchGuard devices very attractive. For bigger installations [that] may require multiple networks to be connected together, I found it a little challenging to maintain multiple connections through multiple networks.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use WatchGuard Network Security for a business firewall with VPNs to connect directly and securely into our servers. We have also found for our business that using WatchGuard Network Security firewalls allow for a deeper look into the rules and policies. This allows us to make our network more secure for employees.The main business problem that this solves is the ability to set up effective and secure VPN connections.
  • Support is extremely quick to respond
  • The System Manager application is very easy to use.
  • When something goes wrong, it gives good error codes to be able to troubleshoot with
  • Integration of the system manager with policy manager.
  • Better/more clear explanation of saving a file (policy change) to the box. Sometimes it is hard to know which files are from what changes.
  • More notice of when updates are required. A few times our VPN has gone down only to find out we were missing a firmware update that we were unaware of.
I would recommend WatchGuard Network Security to colleagues who have small businesses. The system manager is easy to set up on a basic level, but also has much more room to delve deeper into the policies if needed. There is a good range of options to get a basic security setup all the way to an advanced setup with rules, ports, ips, etc.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
WatchGuard Network Security provides a well-rounded suite of network security services. We use their firewall appliance to provide edge protection and their endpoint security on our internal systems to provide an additional layer of security. The WatchGuard Network Security firewall provides intelligent security proxies with features like gateway antivirus, DDOS protection, persistent threat detection, website filtering, and detection of malicious patterns of behavior. The fine level of granular control over application-based access control is also a very welcome addition to help with issues like critical data egress. Effective support of VLANs provides us the flexibility we desire to partition our internal networks. The management interfaces are excellent and help make complicated configurations much easier to track and understand. Clearly, a lot of thought has gone into the engineering of these systems. The endpoint protection is centrally managed via a cloud interface that lets us have multiple profiles that can be assigned on a per-device basis. Someone in engineering can have an endpoint profile that's different from someone in shipping, for example. A nicely integrated system designed to solve sticky problems easily.
  • Outstanding firewall management both detailed and easy to understand
  • Endpoint cloud management that enabled customized settings based on roles
  • Keeps the "bad guys" out of our network
  • VLANs done right keeps departments partitioned where it makes sense
  • Comprehensive VPN support lets me use VPNs my way
  • WatchGuard Network Security WiFi access points are very good but also very expensive
  • Webblocker can sometimes be too aggressive at blocking
WatchGuard Network Security is excellent in implementing a multi-site secure network. It is also great for environments where you may need to fall back on an alternate network connection; the failover is very effective.
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