SonicWall: Because It Feels So Good When I Stop

Work has quite a number of SonicWall firewalls: some serious, some small.  These are without exception great devices.  They do not let us down.

Their service, however…..

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I noticed weird things were starting to happen involving the firewalls.  When I’d go to download an application, I’d get an error, stating that SonicWall blocked my download because it was a virus.  This started happening with frightening regularity.

So I saved up a week’s worth of patience (that’s either a lot or a little, depending on who asks) and filled out a service ticket with SonicWall.  I provided all the info on what happened, plus I added the details from a second, different incident.

Since I could not get a straight answer via SonicWall or Google, I also filled out a ticket asking where I can find VPN client software for linux.  The SonicWall knowledgebase had a bunch of really old linux information that was way out of date.

I finally received a notice that the ticket had been addressed.

The sage advice from SonicWall, delivered via email from a fellow whose name had many consonants which I could not pronounce, was to turn off the detection for that specific virus.

It was rather a shame this came via email, as I was all set to do my Linda Blair impersonation, wherein my head rotates 360 degrees and I spit pea soup.

I attached a note to the ticket that this was not a reasonable solution.  Their response?  The same response always: to restate the prior solution as if it were new.

Two words: pea soup.

A month later I logged in to see if there was anything further.  Not a peep on the virus ticket.  And no one had even bothered to look at the software request.

SonicWall charges yearly for support and certain features.  I am going to stop paying for support because they don’t provide any.