Fortinet FortiWLM vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi comparison

Fortinet and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Fortinet is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.7, while WatchGuard is ranked #24 with an average rating of 7.0. Fortinet holds a 2.0% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to WatchGuard’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

Fortinet FortiWLM

Read 29 Fortinet FortiWLM reviews

1,791 Views
1,648 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Read 7 WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi reviews

466 Views
457 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiWLM

WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Fortinet FortiWLM and WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi compete in wireless network management and security. WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi has an upper hand with its robust security features.

Features: Fortinet FortiWLM's valuable features include sophisticated wireless LAN management, seamless integration with Fortinet's Security Fabric, and enhanced network visibility. WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi excels in advanced security capabilities, Threat Detection and Response, along with simplified cloud-based management.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiWLM requires improvements in simplifying deployment processes, enhancing user interface for ease of use, and providing more detailed reporting options. WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi could benefit from better integration with non-WatchGuard products, expanding feature sets in complex setups, and reducing its initial deployment complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi offers straightforward cloud-based deployment and responsive customer service. Fortinet FortiWLM has comprehensive setup options but can be complex, requiring more expertise, though it is supported by reliable customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiWLM provides cost-effective solutions with strong ROI through integration capabilities. WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi may have higher initial costs, but its security features often justify the investment.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiWLM vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiWLM vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

September 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiWLM

Ranking in Wireless LAN

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Ranking in Wireless LAN

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiWLM is 2.0%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiWLM	2.0%
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi	0.6%
Other	97.4%

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

LuayHlaleh

Information Technology Team Lead at TechnoPeak

Offers robust network management with cost considerations for large deployments

Large enterprises typically invest in FortiAnalyzer, though our company and SMB clients don't require this analysis tool. We use Ekahau for floor planning and Wi-Fi coverage analysis rather than Fortinet FortiWLM's built-in features. Ekahau helps us perform site surveys and plan access point placement. Fortinet FortiWLM is a flexible and common solution in Dubai. It's one of the best-selling products, with Etisalat, the largest ISP, installing Fortinet FortiGate for approximately 70-80% of their clients. The solution offers different series to accommodate various needs. The triple radio model costs around $1,000 (3,500 dirham) and supports 40-50 connected devices. The 231F model suits smaller deployments of 20-25 devices. I rate Fortinet FortiWLM a seven out of ten. While it's an excellent solution, Cisco remains the market leader.

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WarrenWilliams

Senior Account Manager at Bralin Technology Solutions

A solution that offers excellent support and makes it easy to manage networks

To utilize the solution properly, you need some training and guidance on that. Getting it working is easy, but if you're going to use it with feature sets that make WatchGuard worthwhile to use, it's probably not the easiest to set up. I'd rate the initial setup a seven out of ten. The time taken to deploy the solution depends on the project scope you're doing. Do you need ten WiFi access points or one? You could deploy the solution in an hour. We need one person to deploy the solution. But the number of people required for deployment depends on where the access points are deployed. Like, if it's the ceiling or whatever. The way we do it, we usually have an on-site technician who sets up the backend. We usually have two people when deploying the solution, but you can do it with one person. We have a team that manages the solution. But if you have ten people on a site to manage the solution, 15 minutes daily is enough.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Fortinet FortiWLM is good for tracking assets, monitoring, and overall management."

"I found that It's really good when comparing it to any other product or it is much better in terms of features that the customer requires."

"The greatest advantage is the security fabric Fortinet offers."

"The solution is controlled from one device and one GUI for all devices."

"The most valuable features are the roaming profile, the mesh, and the performance."

"In my experience with Fortinet FortiWLM, I can rate its stability as 10; until today, I haven't had any problems."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to connect and broadcast to different networks without using a VLAN or a layer two switch, which allows you to easily create guest networks."

"For me, the ease of setup and the rugged nature in harsh environments are most valuable. So, durability and ease of use have been its best features."

More Fortinet FortiWLM pros

"We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use."

"Cloud analytics that provide all its attributes."

"It makes it easy to obtain all information about the client experience."

"They're very easy to set up and get running."

"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."

"The solution has been stable."

"The configuration part of WatchGuard is very flexible."

Cons

"Improving support and firmware upgrades is necessary."

"There is very little publicly available information about Virtual Cell and Single Channel Architecture. Promotion of the overall technology is limited as well. Being more vocal about a product that has many advantages would go a long way to eliminating a lot of the confusion and negative perception about Virtual Cell and Single Channel Architecture."

"Licensing is the only area that I think they are below average. They need enterprise licensing, an all-encompassing license to cover all products for a company."

"When using the FortiGate as the wireless controller, you cannot have automatic user registration, which is something that they should offer."

"They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with."

"The platform's pricing needs improvement."

"There are currently issues with Fortinet's software quality."

"The solution should improve user capacity."

More Fortinet FortiWLM cons

"The solution can be scaled but it has limitations from my experience."

"The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention."

"If a client device had issues with authentication due to out of date browser or similar difficulties, it would be nice to have the ability to migrate the client onto the portal via one click."

"Inability to import a user with one click."

"I don't think they're available at the best price."

"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."

"One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive. I give the solution a one out of ten for the price."

"There is a perpetual license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."

"The price of Fortinet FortiWLM is reasonable compared to the other vendors. We are using a five-year license."

"The solution is fairly priced."

"In the last few years, due in part to the impact of COVID on the market, Fortinet has increased its prices by 35 percent."

"If a customer already is a FortiGate customer, the cost to go to the FortiAP is incredibly affordable, because you already have the controller."

"The product is highly expensive. I rate the pricing a ten."

"Fortinet would do something with their pricing model to attract smaller business users and eliminate the mandatory service contracts."

More Fortinet FortiWLM pricing and cost advice

"WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing."

"The solution is priced high compared to competitors. However, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."

"Your licensing and cost, as would be required for many other solutions, being considered for eighty to two hundred and eighty different physical locations, is just about the same amount per access point."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Retailer

Non Profit

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiWLM?

The security is a valuable feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWLM?

Regarding functionality, a lower price for Fortinet FortiWLM would be better, but it's difficult. Regarding the integration with other vendors, we try to buy only products from a single vendor to a...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWLM?

The price could be reduced by 20%. In Dubai, UniFi costs 700 dirham for the UniFi Pro 7th generation. For Fortinet FortiWLM, a similar model would cost around 1,300 dirham. If this price was reduce...

See all answers

What needs improvement with WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?

The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention. Also, when an incident occurs, the impact can be significantly huge. A recent p...

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What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?

We use WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi because we have used different tools as well, like Ubiquiti. The complexity of Ubiquiti is much more compared to WatchGuard, which provides more flexibility and is ea...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?

We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major inc...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 26% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 16% of the time

Cambium Networks Wireless LAN vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 11% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiWLM Competitors

Ubiquiti WLAN vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Compared 36% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Compared 24% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Compared 19% of the time

More WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiWLM

November 2025

Download Fortinet FortiWLM product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

October 2025

Download WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi product report

Also Known As

FortiWLM, FortiAP, Fortinet AP/OAP, Meru Wireless LAN

No data available

Overview

Consolidate security and wireless LAN management with our integrated wireless solutions. Single-pane-of-glass management for security and access without the need to add point products simplifies deployment and reduces management complexity. These solutions are highly scalable to support even the largest organizations and distributed enterprises.

Fortinet

WatchGuard is a global leader in network security, secure Wi-Fi, and network intelligence products and services for SMBs and Distributed Enterprises worldwide. Our mission is to make enterprise-grade security accessible to companies of all types and sizes through simplicity, making WatchGuard an ideal solution for distributed enterprises and SMBs. WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

WatchGuard

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data

Portsmouth Grammar School, HILOTEC

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiWLM vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

September 2025

Free Report: Fortinet FortiWLM vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

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