Published 12 November 2026 · Rathish Kumar, Invitty
There is no single best firewall for 50 users, because 50 users on one 100 Mbps link and 50 users on two 500 Mbps links with full HTTPS inspection are different jobs. Size from bandwidth and inspection first, then shortlist. For a typical 50-user Indian office in 2026, that lands on models such as the FortiGate 70G, Sophos XGS 108, SonicWall TZ480 or Palo Alto PA-520.
Why headcount is the wrong starting point
A firewall does not see people. It sees traffic. Fifty accountants on email and a cloud ERP put far less load on it than fifty designers syncing large files, or an office where CCTV recorders upload footage all day. Two numbers matter more than the user count: the total internet bandwidth you will run through the box, and how much of it you want inspected, especially encrypted HTTPS.
A worked example
Take an office with 50 staff, two 300 Mbps broadband links in failover and load balancing, 10 people working from home on VPN, and a plan to inspect web traffic for malware.
- Peak internet traffic: up to 600 Mbps if both links are busy.
- Inspection: IPS, application control and anti-malware on all traffic; HTTPS inspection on risky categories.
- Our rule of thumb: pick a model whose vendor-published threat protection figure is at least double your peak internet bandwidth. Datasheet numbers come from lab traffic, and real offices rarely reach them.
That means looking for roughly 1.2 Gbps of threat protection or more. If you will inspect most HTTPS traffic, check the vendor's SSL inspection figure as well and go one model up if it is close.
The shortlist from four brands
| Brand | Model | Published figure | Test basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fortinet | FortiGate 70G | 1.3 Gbps | Enterprise mix |
| Sophos | XGS 108 | 2.5 Gbps | Sophos published figure |
| SonicWall | TZ480 | 2 Gbps | Keysight HTTP |
| Palo Alto Networks | PA-520 | 1.8 Gbps | Appmix, PAN-OS 12.2 |
Each vendor tests differently, so read this as four reasonable options, not a ranking. The FortiGate 70G also has a published SSL inspection figure of 1.4 Gbps, and the Palo Alto figure already includes WildFire and logging, which flatters the others by comparison.
What decides it after sizing
- Remote access: check how each model handles your VPN method before ordering. Fortinet's November 2026 matrix lists no SSL VPN figure for the 70G.
- Who will manage it: staff who already know one platform are worth more than a small throughput edge.
- Your endpoint vendor: Sophos and Fortinet both link firewall and endpoint when you run their own agents.
- Three-year cost: compare appliance plus the same subscription level for three years, with GST.
Mistakes we see in 50-user offices
The most common is buying the smallest model that fits today and then switching inspection off when it struggles, which leaves an expensive router. The second is putting CCTV, guest Wi-Fi and office PCs on one flat network. The third is letting subscriptions lapse after year one, so the firewall stops getting new threat signatures without anyone noticing.
Next step
Run your numbers through our firewall sizing calculator, then send us the result. We will shortlist two brands and quote both the same way. See also our business firewall page and the firewall buying basics post.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 50-user firewall enough if we grow to 80 users?
Do we need two firewalls for high availability?
Can one firewall handle our CCTV and guest Wi-Fi too?
Sources
Figures in this guide come from these vendor pages, checked on 12 November 2026. Vendors update datasheets, so confirm the current figures before you order.