Firewall Products

[scoobydoo26]

I'm looking to purchase a hardware firewall appliance and was wondering what product anyone recommends:

CISCO, checkpoint, watchguard, sonicwall.....

i've obtained information and pricing on watchguard. It looks admin-friendly and pretty solid as a product. Has anyone used them? Others ?

thanks

 

[chiph]

I've used Cisco and Checkpoint. The Checkpoint we had was way out of date (CIO didn't see the need to maintain the subscription), but did an OK job. The Cisco was way more expensive, but had the advantage of being faster, and had better VPN support. Plus, it was easier to find someone who had Cisco knowledge.

Chip H.

 

[SteveTheGeek]

I'm using a Watchguard Firebox. You're correct, it's fairly admin-friendly and (IMHO) secure. I've heard a horror story of a setup, but the two installs I've done have been pretty clean and easy. Support is pretty good too.
HTH,
-Steve

 

[TheGrey]

Watchguard is very easy to use and install, and supports vpn and most things you'd expect from a firewall.
Perfect for small businesses that don't want to use a fortune on firewall experts.
I feel that the update service is a bit expensive for a hardware firewall.

 

[dkediger]

Sonicwall is also recommended. I've been using the Pro model which allows unlimited users for nearly three years without a glitch. As far as the basic firewall services, updates are free. You can purchase add on options through subscription such as updated web site-specific content lists, and McAfee Anti-Virus. I haven't used either of these as we have other solutions. The Sonicwall also supports VPN.

 

[rjs]

I've used Watchguard, SonicWall and Netscreen. I like the Watchguard the best, but a bit pricey. But the support is great. Not too impressed with the SonicWall because it cannot log allowed packets, only denied ones and their support is been terrible. Best bang for the buck is Netscreen IMO. I like its ability to show logs for each rule/filter set.

 

[scoobydoo26]

thanks all for the replies! Waiting budget approval. I'll likely be going with Watchguard as the consensus on all fronts seems to be that their product and support are better than average.