Firewalla Support Process
Good morning all. I wanted to share my latest experience with Firewalla Support. I had high hopes for this product, but after my experience, I have to ask for advice.
I'm a retired network engineer. 4 days ago my new Purple Firewalla stopped working. The WAN port stopped passing data (broken). Period. A bad ethernet jack. I knew this after troubleshooting (restore, re-flash, re-install), but had to go through the Firewalla support process, and I gave them a chance and got a support ticket!
My issues began with the process of support. For 4 days, all I have received are instructions to try this and try that via EMAIL ONLY! This started during the work week, not the weekend. I requested to talk to someone, but no one responded to that request, and the tech continued to try to fix my unfixable Purple Firewalla by sending me one step instructions each time via email. I would wait hours, and overnight for replies to fix this. This went on for 4 days.
So nothing got fixed with all the email only help (no phone calls) after 4 days, nothing accomplished.
This morning I woke up to an email that says to throw a case number on a sheet of paper and send it to them in a box. This is apparently at my expense. I still don't know the name of the tech I worked with.
So, by mailing this out, I have nothing in place and no timeframe on replacement. I would have hoped they would overnight me out a replacement so I can get something security wise back in place, but that’s not the process.
This was truly a terrible experience with a product and the support method. I will send the box as they said, but I will look into other firewalls.
I so wanted to love this product, but my confidence in any future problems with it is lost. This support was pointless. I can’t go through this again if anything else in the future goes wrong. A product is only as good as it’s support.
So, any ideas on other firewalls that are reputable? I need to get one in place. Especially with the cyber attacks going on right now. Enjoy your day all and be safe.
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Sorry to hear you have had a bad experience. Having bought, red, blue and gold, I’ve had no issues and when I did have a small problem they sorted it out really quick, so I can’t praise them enough for a very small team.
i understand that maybe there returns policy could be better.
If you are a retired network engineer, then build your own using PFsense. Really easy to do and very powerful, just buy the appropriate hardware for your needs.
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Hi Andy. Yes, I wish it was easy, but my experience was bad. I am now looking towards PFsense.
First level support is always rough, but that’s all they might have out there.
you said the key thing, when you had a small problem. My problem is not small, a defective Ethernet jack. We confirmed this over and over but support just kept spinning wheels for 4 days, trying everything via software. You can’t fix broken hardware with a software workaround. That’s not what I paid for. Support just wouldn’t listen.
Now I’m digging around the house for a small box and some bubble wrap to mail this Purple for repair. There is no indication of how this repair process works or how how long it takes. Will I be waiting months or a week?
The box breaks and the repair is so far at my expense. That’s not a great policy.
so I’m unprotected at the moment.
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Sorry to read about your experience...
I deployed 4 Firewalla Gold devices... All as main routers/firewall... 2 here at home for two internet services (300mb and 1Gb)... and two at friends homes... they love it.
Now... as with anything... people's experiences differ due to their own setup. Seems you got a faulty FW Purple. I would expect a replacement ASAP. No excuses for bad service. I hope the Firewalla team can sort out your issue ASAP.
I have looked into PfSense devices... That is getting NetGate devices or build my own... Its an enticing thing since I like to "build" things on my own. There is cost associated with all that might go beyond the cost of a FW device... if you can find any NetGate hardware... Last I saw all were sold out.
FW Gold to me is the best. I have over 30 various home connected to one device at one time and over 60 on another. Its a large family house :) I enjoy the experience and community and quality of the device overall.
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Fixing my problem asap came and went after 4 days of useless suggestions via email. Well, how they respond at this point will determine if I remain a customer.
I really want to like Firewalla, but I can’t go through this again if something else breaks. I have no confidence in how this company handles issues that aren’t simple.
This tech did nothing via email for 4 days but guess at my problem.
Hopefully someone high up is reading these posts and will look at the email exchange I had with the tech. I asked more than once for a phone call. I would not want to bail over one bad tech and I exercised a lot of patience already over this. They have a chance to make this right. But if I’m waiting a month for a replacement, I’m out. -
Ok, huge update.
I was contacted just now by Firewalla saying their procedure is to send out a replacement so I don’t have to wait. I wish the tech told me that before. Anyway, I’m happy.
As a consequence of my impatience with this, I will buy a Gold based upon your recommendations. I’ll just rock a Gold and Purple at the same time.
Thank you all for chiming in on a Sunday. Have a good day.
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The Purple has the Wi-Fi/WISP feature I need. The Gold handles the main routing functions, and the Purple is my automatic on standby ISP that connects to my phones hotspot.
I live on a mountain, so isp choices are limited. This allows me to have my backup isp that I already pay for with my cell plan.
Plus, this group talked me into the robust Gold. I’m a fan of redundancy so having 2 awesome firewalls is not a bad thing.
Enjoy your day!
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