First-time evaluator: What questions should I ask the sales rep?

As a pragmatic adopter of technology, my approach to evaluating any new tool—whether a coding assistant or a firewall appliance—is to focus on concrete operational details and total cost of ownership. I'm considering a WatchGuard Firebox for a small office environment to replace an aging, overly complex solution. My primary goal is robust security without administrative overhead.

Before engaging with a sales representative, I want to prepare a list of targeted questions that move beyond marketing fluff. Here are the categories I'm planning to cover:

**Deployment & Integration**
* What is the typical setup timeline from unboxing to full policy enforcement for a site with 50 users and standard web/email services?
* What are the specific technical prerequisites for integration with an existing Active Directory for user authentication? Are there any known issues with specific server versions?
* Can you provide a sample configuration snippet for a typical split-tunnel VPN setup, and how is client deployment managed?

**Licensing & Cost Structure**
* Beyond the base appliance cost and Total Security Suite subscription, what are the often-overlooked recurring fees? (e.g., support tiers, advanced reporting, specific threat intelligence feeds).
* How granular are the licensing bundles? If I only need web filtering, application control, and IPS, can I purchase that subset, or am I forced into the full suite?
* Explain the licensing model for VPN clients. Are they licensed per connection, per user, or per device, and how does that scale?

**Operational Realities**
* What is the typical throughput degradation with all security services (AV, IPS, etc.) enabled? Please provide data for my considered model (e.g., Firebox T40).
* Describe the process and expected downtime for major firmware updates. Is a rollback procedure straightforward if an update breaks a critical function?
* What are the most common support tickets for new deployments in the first 90 days? This often reveals hidden configuration pitfalls.

My instinct is that the answers to these questions will reveal the true operational model and highlight any potential mismatches with our team's capacity. I would appreciate insights from this community on any other specific technical or procurement questions that proved valuable during your own evaluations.