Are you looking for the best firewall on the market for a small business? It would be great if there was a simple definitive answer to this, but it is not always so simple. Many companies would also be quick to claim the title and put their product forward as the right answer. It can be confusing and quite frankly a bit daunting to know which product to buy, so we put this list together to help make your decision a little easier.
We all seek the best value for money we can obtain and increasingly have high demands which need to be met. Most small businesses have a router with the primary purpose being to secure the company’s network. However, today there are also more complex threats, and a firewall more often needs to be an all-in-one solution which also includes services such as intrusion prevention (IPS), anti-viruses, web filtering and anti-spam.
Choosing a good firewall is an important decision because peace of mind is valuable and no small business wants to find out the hard way that they did not consider all their needs when they made their firewall purchase. And, that is a key point in the discussion – you need to know your business needs and then seek the best Firewall to do what you require.
What do I need to consider when buying Firewall for my small business?
There are a number of factors you should consider when choosing the right Firewall. Firewalls.com listed the following as the top issues you should be thinking about:
Software vs Hardware – if your business is larger than 3-4 people, then a hardware-based solution is the way to go. Software solutions become complicated and costly for managing multiple users beyond just a few. All solutions here are hardware based.
Ease of Use – If your business does not have a dedicated full-time system administrator, then you need to ensure the Firewall you choose can be set-up and managed easily with the staff you have available.
Scalable – The aim is to grow your business, so invest in solutions that can scale up with ease and remain cost-effective. We would recommend a solution which accommodates double the users you currently have.
Versatility – Make sure that the solution you choose is compatible with your current software and systems, but also that it can accommodate changes. In the small business, things can move fast and adaptability is key.
Configuration – Make sure the Firewall you select can be easily configured and maintained.
Here we have put together a list of some of the top contenders for you to consider for your small business. These are the best selling firewall solutions, that have received great reviews and proven themselves worthy of trust. They are cost-effective and comprehensive solutions.
WatchGuard T50
- Recommended Users: 10 – 25 Users
- Maximum Throughput: 1.2 Gbps
The impressive thing about the WatchGuard T50 is that it provides real-time visibility tools and great reporting which is easy to use. With WatchGuard Dimension, what this box does especially well is visualizing data, so monitoring your network with the WatchGuard will be a task that is much more pleasant than technical confusion. You can understand and see what is happening on your network, and it allows users to immediately isolate and treat any threat.
It is a fast and reliable rackmount Firewall solution.
This company is also repeatedly recognized with awards for its range of security products, so you can rest assured you have a top product.
SonicWall TZ400
- Recommended Users: 25-35 Users
- Maximum Throughput: 1.3 Gbps
The Sonic Wall TZ400 is a good solution for small to medium-sized businesses which require high-speed connections, especially over longer distances.
It allows small to medium-sized businesses to have secure remote access between multiple offices. Site-to-site VPN tunnels can accommodate 20 users per connection and performs well with Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), SSL, and SonicWall’s patented Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI). SonicWall TZ also offers native VPN remote access for mobile device users on Apple iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Windows 8.1, Google, Kindle Fire and Linux, which is great for small businesses.
SonicWall offer a range of products in the TZ series to suit various business sizes, with features simplified to suit the size of the business. They provide wired and wireless network protection. Some products can be managed centrally using a larger firewall and GMS.
Sophos XG105
- Recommended Users: 10-20 Users
- Maximum Throughput: 3 Gbps
If your business is expanding and you are looking to take your small business to the next step, this is a very solid choice. You can turn your average office into a high-speed network very cost-effectively with the XG105. You will get a massive amount of performance for the price out of this little box.
It reaches speeds of 3 Gigabytes per second and is able to accommodate up to 20 users. Plus it offers on-box reporting.
Juniper SRX220
- Recommended Users: 10-20 Users
- Maximum Throughput: 950 Mbps
The SRX220 is an all in one UTM (Universal Threat Management) solution which offers security, routing, switching, and WAN connectivity in a single device specifically designed with small to medium-sized businesses in mind. It supports up to 950 Mbps firewall, 100 Mbps IPsec VPN, and 80 Mbps intrusion prevention system (IPS).
This is a powerful box that is capable of a lot, but it might take a little longer to get it set up and configured correctly, compared to some of the other solutions here.
The Juniper SRX220 is part of the SRX Series range, offering next-generation firewall protection with application awareness and user role-based controls, partnered with unified threat management (UTM) to protect businesses. It allows for flexible cost-effective configuration scaling to support up to thousands of users.
This might not be a definitive answer to the best Firewall for small businesses, but these solutions are the ones we recommend you put on the top of your list to investigate. Each of these companies also offers a range of products, so if the ones above don’t quite hit the sweet spot in your needs, then take a look at the other models in the same range.