{"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": "2026-10-22T23:22:44Z", "permalink": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/firewall-appliances-remote-teams-2026-10-22", "question_page": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/firewall-appliances/remote-teams", "brands_named": [{"position": 1, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 2, "brand": "Fortinet FortiGate 60F / 70G", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 3, "brand": "70G", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 4, "brand": "UniFi", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 5, "brand": "UniFi Cloud Gateway", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 6, "brand": "UniFi Cloud Gateway Ultra", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 7, "brand": "Cloud", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 8, "brand": "WireGuard", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 9, "brand": "Teleport", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 10, "brand": "Firewalla Gold Pro", "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": "Netgate 2100", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 15, "brand": "OpenVPN", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 16, "brand": "UDM Pro", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 17, "brand": "Cisco Meraki MX67 / MX68", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 18, "brand": "Sophos XGS", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 19, "brand": "Tailscale", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 20, "brand": "Cloudflare", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 21, "brand": "Cloudflare Access", "label": "mentioned"}], "sources_cited": [{"url": "https://www.techradar.com/versus/ztna-vs-on-premise-firewall-which-is-right-for-your-business", "domain": "techradar.com", "source_type": "review"}, {"url": "https://www.fortinet.com/products/next-generation-firewall", "domain": "fortinet.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://digitechbytes.com/vetted/best-firewall-appliance-for-small-business/", "domain": "digitechbytes.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://ui.com/cloud-gateways", "domain": "ui.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://linuxblog.io/firewalla-gold-plus-vs-udm-pro-max/", "domain": "linuxblog.io", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.techradar.com/pro/firewalla-gold-pro-review", "domain": "techradar.com", "source_type": "review"}, {"url": "https://www.watchguard.com/wgrd-products/firewall-appliances", "domain": "watchguard.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://forums.lawrencesystems.com/t/udm-pro-vs-netgate-2100-am-i-crazy/25404", "domain": "forums.lawrencesystems.com", "source_type": "community"}, {"url": "https://netgate.com/resources/5-popular-work-from-home-network-firewalls", "domain": "netgate.com", "source_type": "vendor"}, {"url": "https://meraki.com/products/appliances", "domain": "meraki.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.esecurityplanet.com/products/sophos-xg-vs-fortinet-fortigate/", "domain": "esecurityplanet.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.cloudnuro.ai/blog/top-10-zero-trust-network-access-ztna-tools-for-remote-workforces-2025-guide", "domain": "cloudnuro.ai", "source_type": "other"}], "answer_text": "## Short version first\n\nFor a *remote* team, the honest answer is that the appliance is usually the wrong center of gravity - you can't put a box in 40 houses and manage it sanely. Most distributed teams are better served by identity-based access (ZTNA) plus a small appliance only where there's an actual office, lab, or on-prem server. [TechRadar's ZTNA vs. on-prem firewall breakdown](https://www.techradar.com/versus/ztna-vs-on-premise-firewall-which-is-right-for-your-business) covers why: hardware VPN concentrators were built for a perimeter that remote teams don't have.\n\nThat said, here are the boxes I'd actually name, in order.\n\n## Appliances\n\n**1. Fortinet FortiGate 60F / 70G** - My default if you have a real office or data closet and want one vendor for firewall + VPN + IPS + web filtering. ~1.4 Gbps IPS throughput, 700 Mbps threat protection, and the FortiClient/ZTNA agent extends policy to laptops off-network, which is the part that matters for you. FortiCloud lets you zero-touch ship units to remote sites. Downside: licensing is a subscription maze and FortiOS has had a rough CVE run.\n[fortinet.com/products/next-generation-firewall](https://www.fortinet.com/products/next-ge", "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"}}