Managed Firewall / NGFW
A team watches your network gateway so you do not have to fiddle with firewall settings yourself.
A firewall is a "gate" between your office network and the internet, blocking viruses, hackers and unwanted traffic. An NGFW (next-generation firewall — a smarter firewall that can tell which app and which kind of threat the traffic is) does more but is fiddly to set up. A managed firewall means the provider installs, tunes, updates and monitors the box 24/7 and fixes problems for you, while you just pay a monthly fee.
SMEs with no full-time IT staff that still need to protect customer data and company systems — clinics, accounting firms, retail chains, or any business with data-security obligations.
Same product, different names.
Each carrier brands this differently — here’s how to recognise it when you compare quotes.
The honest pros and cons.
Benefits
- Someone watches it 24/7, so a midnight attack gets handled instead of being discovered only when you return to work.
- Firewall rules, virus signatures and firmware updates are kept current by the provider, so you do not get a hole because nobody patched it.
- You get reports of what threats were blocked — handy for audits or insurance.
- Usually includes hardware rental, so you avoid a big upfront cost to buy the box.
- Can also handle VPN (staff connecting back to the office securely) and secure links between branches.
Watch-outs
- It is a monthly fee; over time it can cost more than buying a box outright — but a box you buy still needs someone who knows how to run it.
- Contracts are usually 2–3 years; check the terms before switching provider or ending the rental early.
- A firewall is not a cure-all; staff clicking phishing links or using weak passwords can still cause breaches, so pair it with other measures.
- Adding boxes, branches or rule changes can incur extra charges — ask for the price list.
A small-office managed firewall is roughly from $1,000/mo (hardware rental plus basic monitoring); add 24/7 SOC monitoring, a WAF (website-protecting firewall) or multiple branches and it is usually quote-only, with enterprise priced per device and traffic. Prices are indicative only.
Common questions
Q01My broadband came with a router — do I still need a firewall?
Q02What is the difference between managed and buying my own firewall?
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Learn more 03Penetration Testing & Security Assessment
Hire ethical hackers to attack your systems on purpose and find the holes before the bad guys do.
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