The 7 Best Hardware Firewalls
Special Honors
Fortinet Next-Generation Firewalls Large-scale companies may be familiar with Fortinet, a company focused squarely on cybersecurity that has produced some of the most capable network security devices on the market in recent years. They offer a decent range of ultra-high-capacity firewalls, and their control suite operating system and ongoing subscription support are on a par with the best. fortinet.com
Cisco Secure Firewall Cisco may be the most recognizable name in the networking game, and for good reason. You'd be hard-pressed to do better than their massive line of IT solutions, whether your institution is moderately sized or huge and ever-expanding. Their products do, generally, cost more than much of the competition, but you can be completely certain that you're getting a powerful and dependable piece of equipment. cisco.com
Editor's Notes
March 16, 2021:
Just to be clear, the vast majority of home users won't need one of these, because Windows Firewall does the job adequately for most people. Power users, remote workers, business owners, or IT professionals will often require the services of a good hardware firewall. With that in mind, the Zyxel USG Flex Series has something for just about everyone, up to offices that see about 150 people. The decent variety of variants and moderate price make it the best choice for many people. The WatchGuard Firebox T15 is a somewhat similar model meant for mid-sized business use, and it's also just about cost-effective, as is the SonicWall SOHO 250.
There are some instances where the average consumer will want a dedicated firewall, and there are good options. The Bitdefender Box 2 is the easiest to get running, likely because it's among the few specifically tailored to the home user experience. Alternatively, the Meraki Go GX20 offers the reliability of big name, at a remarkably low cost.
Finally, we want to point out the Awow AK34, which is actually an impressively low-priced Windows PC. While it's fully capable of running 64-bit Windows, with a little tech know-how, it can also be a more effective hardware firewall than many dedicated boxes.
January 10, 2019:
For the tinkerers out there, experts recommend building a homebrew firewall rather than using an off-the-shelf model when securing a network. Because proprietary router firmware can quickly go out of date, being able to install open source firmware, such as pfSense, on your firewall device provides more robust protection. The Protectli Firewall Micro, which is included in our list, allows for this type of customization.