{"question": "best firewall appliances for remote teams", "category": "firewall-appliances", "category_name": "firewall appliances", "audience": "remote-teams", "audience_name": "remote teams", "engine": "Claude (Anthropic) with web search", "model": "claude-opus-5", "asked_at": "2026-10-15T21:47:50Z", "permalink": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/firewall-appliances-remote-teams-2026-10-15", "question_page": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/firewall-appliances/remote-teams", "brands_named": [{"position": 1, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 2, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate 50G", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 3, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate 50G / 70G", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 4, "brand": "FortiGate 50G", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 5, "brand": "70G", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 6, "brand": "Netgate 2100", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 7, "brand": "Netgate 2100 / 4200", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 8, "brand": "WireGuard", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 9, "brand": "OpenVPN", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 10, "brand": "per-seat", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 11, "brand": "WatchGuard Firebox", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 12, "brand": "WatchGuard Firebox T25", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 13, "brand": "WatchGuard Firebox T25 / T45", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 14, "brand": "Sophos XGS", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 15, "brand": "Sophos XGS 88", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 16, "brand": "Sophos XGS 88 / 107", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 17, "brand": "SonicWall TZ80 / TZ270", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 18, "brand": "Firewalla Gold SE", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 19, "brand": "Firewalla Gold SE / Purple", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 20, "brand": "UniFi Cloud Gateway", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 21, "brand": "Teleport", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 22, "brand": "Tailscale", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 23, "brand": "Cloudflare", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 24, "brand": "Cloudflare Access", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 25, "brand": "Netgate 2100 + Tailscale", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 26, "brand": "FortiGate 70G", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 27, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate 70G", "label": "mentioned"}], "sources_cited": [{"url": "https://www.shi.com/product/49371500/Fortinet-FortiGate-70G", "domain": "shi.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://netgate.com/resources/5-popular-work-from-home-network-firewalls", "domain": "netgate.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://comparitech.com/net-admin/best-small-business-firewalls", "domain": "comparitech.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://store.ui.com/us/es/category/cloud-gateways-enterprise-scale", "domain": "store.ui.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://tailscale.com/compare/cloudflare-access", "domain": "tailscale.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://www.pomerium.com/blog/cloudflare-access-vs-tailscale-vs-pomerium", "domain": "pomerium.com", "source_type": "other"}], "answer_text": "## The short version\n\nIf your team is actually remote - people in apartments and coffee shops, not a branch office - the honest answer is that the appliance is usually the wrong center of gravity. You buy one appliance for the office/datacenter where your private stuff lives, and solve *access* with identity-based software. I'll give you both halves, appliances first since that's what you asked.\n\n## Appliances I'd actually name, in order\n\n**1. Fortinet FortiGate 50G / 70G** - my default recommendation. Hardware-accelerated crypto (their SPU/NP chips) means IPsec VPN throughput doesn't collapse under load, which is the thing that kills cheap boxes. The 70G lists 500 client-to-gateway IPsec tunnels. FortiClient gives you a decent remote agent with ZTNA tagging, and FortiGate Cloud handles multi-site management. Downside: license sprawl and a UI that assumes you'll learn Fortinet's worldview. [specs](https://www.shi.com/product/49371500/Fortinet-FortiGate-70G)\n\n**2. Netgate 2100 / 4200 (pfSense Plus)** - best value, and the one I'd pick if you have anyone comfortable in a networking UI. ~$349 for the 2100: 850 Mbps firewall, ~118 Mbps IPsec, and WireGuard/OpenVPN with no per-seat VPN ", "answer_truncated": true, "measurement": "One answer from one engine on one date. Not a ranking and not a claim about the world; brands the engine did not name are not recorded.", "limitation": "Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.", "alerts": {"name": "Answer Watch Pro", "price_usd": 79, "period": "month", "gets": "daily change alerts for up to 5 brands in what one AI answer engine says, history, CSV export. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included", "url": "https://bikoosh.com/answers"}}