Sophos Firewall Reviews & Product Details

What I like most is the ease of managing network security centrally. We use Sophos Firewall to control access rules, segment networks by VLAN, configure VPN connections, and manage NAT rules. These features facilitate infrastructure management and provide greater control and security to the corporate environment. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Some advanced configurations, especially related to VPN, firewall rules, and log analysis, could be more intuitive. Identifying connectivity issues is not always straightforward and may require several diagnostic steps. More detailed reports and centralized troubleshooting tools would also facilitate daily administration. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

In my experience, using Sophos has been a very good decision. It has allowed me to centralize everything in Sophos Central, which greatly facilitates security control and management. I especially value the integrations between its products, because everything works together and that improves incident response. The performance remains quite stable and does not significantly affect the equipment. As for the price, I consider it competitive for everything it offers. I have also had good experiences with technical support, which generally responds efficiently. Lastly, the use of artificial intelligence to detect threats more quickly and accurately, along with its excellent UI, adds a lot. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The reporting would be its main area for improvement in future updates. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Firewall Health Check: Automatically tests dozens of system settings to flag high-risk configurations. Integrated XDR Linux Sensor: Embeds real-time system integrity monitoring directly into the core operating system. Generative AI Filtering: Adds a specific GenAI category to DNS protection and web policies to monitor and control tool usage. Instant Web Alerting: Sends emails as often as every five minutes regarding blocked or restricted web categories. Hardened Kernel and Control Plane: Re-architects performance capabilities and secures firmware updates with certificate pinning and TLS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sophos firewalls keep the previous firmware version in a secondary boot partition. You can safely roll back without losing your old configuration. Via Admin Console: Go to Backup & Firmware > Firmware. Click the Boot Firmware Image icon (looks like a shifting arrow) next to the previous version. Via Hardware/Console: If you cannot access the web GUI, reboot the firewall with a serial console cable connected. Press Spacebar during boot to enter the GRUB bootloader menu and select the previous firmware version. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The level of network visibility and the implementation of the Xstream architecture stand out immediately. Having the Xstream Deep packet inspection DPI engine handle AV, IPS, Web Filtering, and app control in a streamlined architecture keeps throughput high even under heavy loads and heavy TLS 1 .3 inspection. From an administrator's daily workflow, synchronized security is a game-changer. The way the firewall communicates directly with endpoint agents to share health heartbeats and automatically isolate compromised machines cuts down incident response times significantly. Additionally, managing multiple distributed appliances through sophos central simplifies everything from firmware pushes backups to group rule management. The built-in SD-WAN orchestration and multi-path performance routing have also made multi-branch connectivity much more reliable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The unified policy paradigm-while powerful once you get used to it-takes some time to master if you are migrating over from traditional zone-and-rule firewalls like Cisco ASA or FortiGate. Finding specific NAT configurations embedded within or alongside standard firewall rules can feel slightly non-intuitive during the initial setup phase. Furthermore, initial fine-tuning of deep TLS decryption policies requires careful exception-building to prevent breaking internal web apps or line-of-business software, though the built-in pre-packaged exception lists help mitigate this. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I am working on different firewalls including Sophos Firewalls (Sophos) is the easiest and cheapest compared to other leading firewalls. A leader in Gartner's, it delivers its intention as an NGFW with a built-in SDWAN feature/dual antivirus/synchronized security/ Sophos central as very easy to manage centrally.

I love the GUI and detection and visibility of reach security capabilities that Sophos Firewall has. The wide range of product portfolio integration makes Sophos Firewall the most powerful in the security era. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I was troubleshooting the HA issue and resolved it gracefully but found a reboot frustrating. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find Sophos Firewall easy to use, with a simple dashboard that makes managing security policies and monitoring threats straightforward. Its integration with Sophos Central and other security tools helps simplify security management. The firewall delivers reliable protection through features such as intrusion prevention, web filtering, and application control. I find it cost-effective because it combines multiple security features in one solution. The documentation and setup guides are helpful for configuration and troubleshooting. I also appreciate its threat intelligence and advanced detection capabilities, which help identify suspicious activities and strengthen network security. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find that some advanced configurations can be complex for beginners, and troubleshooting certain network issues can take time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like most about Sophos Firewall is that I can manage security policies and control network traffic from a single platform. Having everything centralized makes it easier for me to manage security rules and access, monitor traffic, identify suspicious connections, apply restrictions according to the needs of each area, and make adjustments without complicating management. This way, I save time, maintain better network control, and can respond more quickly to potential risks. The initial setup was quite manageable, and once configured, I find administration from the console practical. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I would like the reports to be clearer and easier to customize, showing the main threats and blocked traffic. I would also like to simplify the configuration of some policies and have clearer recommendations for identifying unnecessary or duplicate rules. The initial setup was quite manageable, although it took me time to adjust the rules to the institution's needs, and some options require technical knowledge to make the most of them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The biggest selling point for our team has been Synchronized Security(the security Heartbeat link between our endpoint agents and the firewall). If an endpoint drops to red health status due to active malware or suspicious outbound calls, the XGS box automatically isolates that device at the network layer before it can move laterally into our server VLANs. that alone has saved us hours of manual incident response .

The integration with Sophos Central is easily the best future. Managing rules ,monitoring active traffic, and handling firmware updates across our XGS series appliances from a single dashboard saves our IT team a ton of time.

The Synchronized security feature is also a massive win having the firewall automatically isolated a compromised endpoint before threat can move laterally across our network gives us great peace of mind. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Local Web Admin UI: While Sophos Central is fast, logging directly into the local appliance web console can feel sluggish when you are pulling live packet traces, reviewing firewall rule hits, or digging into active connection tables under heavy load.

On-Box Reporting: The built-in local reporting is adequate for basic bandwidth monitoring, but if you want deep, customizable historical reporting, you really have to rely on Sophos Central Centralized Reporting / Data Lake.

The initial learning curve for custom NAT rules and object based policies can be a bit tricky if you are transitioning from older legacy firewalls . Also running full Deep Packet Inspection along with heavy SSL decryption requires proper sizing upfront, so you need to make sure you pick right XGS hardware model for your bandwidth needs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Synchronized security The Automatic communication between the firewall and Sophos endpoint is fantastic if an endpoint gets infected the firewall instantly isolates it for the rest of the network.

Sophos Central Management managing rules web filtering and site to site VPNs across multiple locations from one cloud dashboard is very convenient.

Clear traffic Visibility the control Center dashboard gives an immediate view of bandwidth hogs suspicious traffic and application usage.

Solid SD-Wan & Remote Access: Setting up IPsec/SSL VPNs for remote users and managing multi-WAN routing works reliably. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Initial Setup Curve: Setting up advance features like web application Firewall (Waf) or complex NAT rules requires going through some technical documentation first.

Firmware Update Timing: Rebooting for firmware updates can take a few minutes compared to simpler routers so maintenance window need to be planned carefully. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sophos firewalls are highly user-friendly and easy to deploy, configure, and manage. They integrate seamlessly with a wide range of network devices, making overall network administration more efficient. Sophos Firewall's advanced security features, including its Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and granular security policies, provide effective protection against evolving cyber threats while ensuring strong network security. In addition, Sophos firewalls are highly cost-effective, offering enterprise-grade security, centralized management, and comprehensive functionality at a competitive price point, making them an excellent choice for organizations of all sizes. Sophos support is great. Sophos has great AI feature to integrate other OEM devices. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

In my experience, there’s nothing to dislike. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.