Index › Network and edge › Firewalls › Small business › September 2026 Edition

Next-generation firewalls for small business buyers

Asked as “next-generation firewall”, and as “enterprise firewall appliance or virtual firewall”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 46 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

Fortinet FortiGate

Contested

35% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 67 categories →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

Fortinet FortiGate35%ContestedThis page Mid-market

Fortinet FortiGate61%Clear leaderStanding →Enterprise

Palo Alto Networks28%ContestedStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

Fortinet FortiGate2%42endorsed leader

WatchGuard Firebox0%30accepted challenger

Sophos Firewall0%15accepted challenger

Sophos XGS0%14accepted challenger

SonicWall TZ Series33%12criticized challenger

Show the three products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Palo Alto Networks62%16criticized challenger

SonicWall50%10criticized challenger

Cisco Meraki MX18%11accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

Fortinet FortiGate vs Fortinet Fortinet FortiGate vs Palo Alto Networks Fortinet vs Palo Alto Networks

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default

Negative label rate →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%

Key

Fortinet FortiGate35%

WatchGuard Firebox13%

Sophos Firewall11%

Sophos XGS2%

SonicWall TZ Series2%

Cisco Meraki MX0%

SonicWall0%

Palo Alto Networks0%

02What they warned about

Five of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.1 Fast, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.

Palo Alto Networks

62%

10 of 16 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 3 hard negative

“small businesses should avoid or be cautious about high-end enterprise NGFWs (like Palo Alto) unless they have the resources to manage them” Mistral Small, negative prompt

SonicWall

50%

5 of 10 labels negative · 5 of 12 models

“Older SonicWall appliances or virtual models that are in the retirement pipeline... they're a poor choice unless you're certain the lifecycle fits your replacement plan.” GPT-5.4 mini, negative prompt

Zyxel

100%

4 of 4 labels negative · 4 of 12 models · 4 hard negative

“it appears frequently in "avoid" lists within Managed Service Provider (MSP) communities” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt

Check Point

80%

4 of 5 labels negative · 4 of 12 models · 3 hard negative

“Palo Alto Networks & Check Point (The "Overkill" Risk)... Why to avoid (unless you have an MSP)” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: twelve of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

63 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 5 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 849 links across 214 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

cyberpress.org

35 answers · 35 citations · 10 models

cybersecuritynews.com

32 answers · 36 citations · 10 models

fortinet.com

vendor site · Fortinet25 answers · 36 citations · 9 models

enterprisenetworkingplanet.com

25 answers · 25 citations · 9 models

reddit.com

23 answers · 41 citations · 9 models

comparitech.com

20 answers · 26 citations · 8 models

cisco.com

vendor site · Cisco18 answers · 27 citations · 9 models

mspcompared.com

16 answers · 23 citations · 6 models

firewalls.com

14 answers · 17 citations · 7 models

blog.invgate.com

vendor site · InvGate14 answers · 14 citations · 8 models

smbsecureguide.com

13 answers · 13 citations · 7 models

tech-insider.org

12 answers · 13 citations · 6 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

cyberpress.org/best-next-generation-firewall-ngfw-solutions-for-every-busin…

34 answers · 9 models

cybersecuritynews.com/best-next-generation-firewall

31 answers · 10 models

enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/guides/best-firewalls-for-small-medium-business

25 answers · 9 models

comparitech.com/net-admin/best-small-business-firewalls

17 answers · 8 models

fortinet.com/solutions/small-business/firewall

17 answers · 8 models

blog.invgate.com/best-firewall-for-small-business

14 answers · 8 models

mspcompared.com/best/firewall

14 answers · 6 models

smbsecureguide.com/network-security/small-business-firewall-buyers-guide-2026

13 answers · 7 models

firewalls.com/blog/best-firewalls-for-small-businesses-2024

12 answers · 5 models

secithub.com/smb-firewall-ranking-guide-2025

12 answers · 6 models

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.

ModelDirect“What is the best next-generation firewall for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which enterprise firewall appliance or virtual firewall would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top next-generation firewalls for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best next-generation firewall for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a next-generation firewall. What should we look at?”Negative“Which next-generation firewalls should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5no first choiceFortinet FortiGate, Sophos XGSChanged

Three alternatives

Check Point's Quantum Spark, FortiGate VM, SonicWall TZ

Sophos Firewall XGS

One alternative

Fortinet FortiGate

against: Palo Alto Networks PA-SeriesFortinet FortiGate, Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max

Two alternatives

Firewalla, Sophos Firewall XGS

no first choicenothing named

GPT-5.4 miniFortinet FortiGate

One alternative

Palo Alto Networks

against: SophosFortinet FortiGateHeld

Two alternatives

Cisco Secure Firewall Small Business Edition, Palo Alto Networks

Fortinet FortiGate

Five alternatives

Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Cisco Secure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks PA-400 Series, Sophos Firewall, WatchGuard Firebox

Fortinet FortiGate

One alternative

Cisco Secure Firewall 220

against: Palo Alto PA-501no first choiceagainst: Cisco Secure Firewall / Firepower, SonicWall, WatchGuard

Gemini 3.5 FlashFortinet FortiGate

Three alternatives

Cisco Meraki, Palo Alto Networks, Sophos XGS

Fortinet FortiGateHeld

Two alternatives

Cisco Meraki, Palo Alto Networks

against: UbiquitiSophos XGS Series

Four alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX Series, Fortinet FortiGate, Netgate / pfSense, Palo Alto Networks PA-Series

Fortinet FortiGate

Five alternatives

Firewalla Gold Pro or Gold Plus, OPNsense, Sophos XGS Series, Ubiquiti UniFi, Zenarmor

against: Cisco, Palo Altono first choice

Four alternatives

Cisco Meraki, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Sophos

against: Cisco Meraki, Cisco Secure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall TZ, Ubiquiti UniFi, Zyxel USG

Perplexity SonarSophos Firewall

Two alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard Firebox

Fortinet FortiGateChanged

Two alternatives

Sophos Firewall XGS, WatchGuard Firebox

against: Palo Alto Networks PA-Series, Prisma CloudSophos XGS, WatchGuard Firebox

One alternative

Fortinet FortiGate

against: Palo Alto PA-SeriesFortinet FortiGate, Sophos Firewall

One alternative

WatchGuard Firebox

against: SonicWall TZ/Gen 7no first choiceagainst: Check Point Quantum, Cisco Firepower/FTD, Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall entry-level / SOHO models, WatchGuard, Zyxel

Grok 4.1 FastSophos Firewall

Two alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard Firebox

against: Cisco Meraki MX/Firepower 1000, SonicWall TZFortinet FortiGate 60FChanged

Four alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX67, FortiGate VM, Palo Alto PA-410, WatchGuard Firebox T40/T85

against: pfSenseSophos Firewall, WatchGuard Firebox

One alternative

Fortinet FortiGate

against: Palo Alto Networks PA-400/440 Series, SonicWall TZ SeriespfSense Community Edition

Two alternatives

OPNsense, Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine

against: FortiGate 30G/60F, Palo Alto, SonicWall TZ270/TZ370, SophosWatchGuard Firebox

Two alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX, Fortinet FortiGate

against: Check Point, Palo Alto PA-Seriesagainst: Check Point NGFW, Cisco Secure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks NGFW, SonicWall Gen 7, Zyxel Firewalls

Mistral SmallWatchGuard Firebox

Two alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, SonicWall TZ Series

WatchGuard FireboxHeld

Two alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate 40F, Sophos Firewall

Sophos Firewall, WatchGuard Firebox

One alternative

Fortinet FortiGate

Sophos Firewall

Three alternatives

Netgate 110, SonicWall, Ubiquiti UniFi Security Gateway

no first choice

One alternative

Fortinet

against: Check Point, Palo Alto, SonicWallagainst: D-Link, Fortinet FortiGate, Palo Alto Networks

DeepSeek V4 FlashWatchGuard Firebox

Three alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, SonicWall, Sophos Firewall

Fortinet FortiGateChanged

Four alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX, Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Palo Alto PA-400 Series / Prisma Access, Sophos Firewall

Fortinet FortiGate

Four alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX, SonicWall TZ Series, Sophos Firewall XGS, WatchGuard Firebox

against: Palo Alto PA-400Fortinet FortiGate

Three alternatives

SonicWall TZ, Sophos XGS, Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway

WatchGuard Firebox T-series

Two alternatives

FortiGate 40F/60F, Sophos XGS

against: Cisco Firepower 1010, Palo Alto PA-220against: Cisco Meraki MX, Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall, Ubiquiti/UniFi firewalls, Zyxel

Llama 4 MaverickWatchGuard Firebox

Two alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, SonicWall Gen 7

WatchGuard FireboxHeld

One alternative

Sophos Firewall

WatchGuard Firebox

Five alternatives

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, Check Point Harmony SASE, Cisco Firepower 1000 Series, SonicWall Firewall, Sophos XGS Series

SonicWall Gen 7

Four alternatives

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, Netgate 110, Ubiquiti UniFi Security Gateway, WatchGuard

no first choicenothing named

Qwen 3.7 FlashFortinet FortiGate

Two alternatives

Sophos XGS, WatchGuard Firebox

against: Cisco Meraki MXFortinet FortiGateHeld

Three alternatives

OPNsense, Sophos XGS, pfSense

against: Asus, Palo Alto Networks, TP-LinkCisco Meraki MX

Three alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, Sophos Firewall XGS, WatchGuard Firebox

Ubiquiti, WatchGuard

Three alternatives

OPNsense, SonicWall, pfSense

Sophos, WatchGuard

One alternative

Fortinet

against: Palo Alto Networksagainst: Check Point, Cisco Meraki MX Series, Netgear, Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall, Ubiquiti, Zyxel

Kimi K2Sophos Firewall

Two alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard Firebox

Fortinet FortiGate 60FChanged

One alternative

Sophos XGS Series

against: Palo Alto Networks PA-400 Series, SonicWall TZ Series, pfSenseSophos Firewall, WatchGuard Firebox

Two alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, SonicWall TZ Series

SonicWall TZ Series

Two alternatives

Fortinet FortiGate, Sophos Firewall

Fortinet FortiGate

Two alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX, Sophos XGS

against: Cisco ASA 5505/5506, Cisco Meraki MX Series, Palo Alto Networks PA-400 Series, Palo Alto PA-200/PA-220, SonicWall TZ205, WatchGuard Firewalls, pfSense/OPNsense

GLM 4.7 FlashXFortinet FortiGate 40F

Three alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX, Sophos Firewall XGS, WatchGuard Firebox

against: Palo Alto Networks PA-Series, SonicWall TZ SeriesFortinet FortiGateChanged

Three alternatives

Check Point Harmony SASE, SonicWall TZ Series, WatchGuard Firebox

Sophos Firewall, WatchGuard Firebox

Six alternatives

Cato Networks Network Firewall, Check Point Harmony SASE, Cisco Meraki MX, Fortinet FortiGate, SonicWall TZ Series, pfSense/OPNsense

Netgate 1100

One alternative

SonicWall TZ 270

against: Ubiquiti UniFi Security Gatewayno first choice

Four alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX, Fortinet FortiGate, Sophos XGS, WatchGuard

against: Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall TZ Seriesagainst: Check Point, Cisco ASA Series, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, SonicWall

MiniMax M2.5no first choiceFortinet FortiGate 90G, Fortinet FortiGate Virtual ApplianceChanged

One alternative

WatchGuard Firebox T45

against: Palo Alto Networks VM-SeriesFortinet FortiGate

Five alternatives

Cisco Meraki MX Series, Palo Alto Networks PA-400, SonicWall TZ Series, Sophos XGS Series, WatchGuard Firebox

Fortinet FortiGate 70G, SonicWall TZ270

One alternative

WatchGuard Firebox T45

Fortinet

Three alternatives

Cisco Meraki, SonicWall, Sophos

against: Palo Alto Networksagainst: Cisco Meraki, SonicWALL SOHO, Sophos, WatchGuard, Zyxel

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 11:39	no	0	5 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 10:34	yes	3	7 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 14:10	yes	22	23 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 10:24	yes	17	6 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 12:44	yes	27	17 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 12:15	yes	5	5 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 11:30	yes	8	11 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 14:09	yes	5	3 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 14:00	yes	5	29 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 10:12	yes	8	21 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 13:39	yes	31	153 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 12:19	no	0	49 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 11:12	yes	16	11 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 10:36	yes	5	7 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 12:18	yes	15	20 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 10:15	yes	18	7 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 13:26	yes	36	20 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 10:57	yes	5	6 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 13:35	yes	21	26 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 11:51	yes	5	2 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 10:21	no	0	42 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 10:48	yes	29	72 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 12:05	yes	17	33 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 13:21	yes	5	109 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 10:51	yes	9	7 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 13:00	yes	3	6 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 11:25	yes	19	26 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 11:42	yes	16	8 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 12:11	yes	24	16 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 11:15	yes	5	6 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 13:39	yes	16	31 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 13:42	yes	5	3 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 10:22	yes	10	42 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 09:58	yes	8	29 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 12:06	yes	17	63 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 10:51	yes	19	44 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 13:20	yes	9	7 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 11:42	yes	4	5 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 11:11	yes	17	24 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 09:30	yes	20	10 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 13:35	yes	40	18 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 11:25	yes	5	3 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 12:16	yes	16	22 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 11:29	yes	5	2 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 12:31	no	0	38 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 12:21	yes	8	22 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 11:49	yes	30	229 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 11:18	yes	5	24 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 09:51	no	0	7 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 11:09	no	0	6 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 12:05	no	0	15 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 12:42	yes	20	14 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 13:19	yes	18	13 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 11:12	no	0	9 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 09:37	yes	29	23 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 09:51	yes	5	2 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 13:27	no	0	40 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 10:22	yes	10	37 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 09:30	yes	15	102 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 11:46	yes	5	20 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 11:38	yes	18	7 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 09:36	yes	4	7 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 12:30	yes	16	26 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 12:48	yes	20	8 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 12:53	yes	40	19 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 11:31	yes	5	5 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 10:24	yes	27	27 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 11:10	yes	5	3 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 11:59	yes	15	56 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 10:58	yes	25	40 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 09:26	yes	29	145 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 13:28	yes	19	67 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

None. Every name in this category resolved on its own.

Unresolved, counted raw

Asus

Cato Networks Network Firewall

Check Point's Quantum Spark

Cisco ASA 5505/5506

Cisco ASA Series

Cisco Firepower 1000 Series

Cisco Firepower 1010

Cisco Firepower Virtual (FMCv)

Cisco Firepower/FTD

Cisco Meraki MX/Firepower 1000

Cisco Meraki vMX

Cisco Secure Firewall 220

Cisco Secure Firewall Small Business Edition

Firewalla

Firewalla Gold Pro or Gold Plus

FortiGate 30G/60F

FortiGate 40F/60F

Fortinet FortiGate 70G

Fortinet FortiGate Virtual Appliance

Netgate / pfSense

Netgate 1100

Palo Alto Networks PA-400

Palo Alto Networks PA-400/440 Series

Palo Alto PA-200/PA-220

Palo Alto PA-220

Palo Alto PA-400

Palo Alto PA-400 Series / Prisma Access

Palo Alto PA-410

Palo Alto PA-501

Protectli Vault

SonicWALL SOHO

SonicWall Firewall

SonicWall Gen 7 / TZ series

SonicWall TZ/Gen 7

SonicWall TZ205

SonicWall TZ270/TZ370

SonicWall entry-level / SOHO models

Sophos XGS Virtual

Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway

Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max

Ubiquiti/UniFi firewalls (UDM, USG, etc.)

WatchGuard Firebox T-series

WatchGuard Firebox T40/T85

WatchGuard FireboxV

WatchGuard Firewalls

Zyxel Firewalls (e.g., USG FLEX, ZyWALL)

Zyxel USG

pfSense Community Edition (CE)

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Next-generation firewalls for small business buyers

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in network and edge