Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access Reviews

I'm a technical support engineer and we are a partner, buying and reselling the solution here in Israel. Our primary use case is core switches, The switches are on the customer's data. We use the product as an extension for core security reasons. Around 50% of our customers buy this product from us. It's a central product we sell for extended features of 4G switches.

The most valuable feature of this product is its simplicity. The one portal that we are using in FortiGate from Dell is the point for managing everything. The other good features are security-related, it's very easy to use those switches.

The product could be improved with additional security-related features, you can never have enough. Otherwise, I find it quite an easy product to use. Scalability could also be improved. 

For additional features, I would again mention the security and it would be nice if the 4G system was directly on the operating system.

I've been using the product for four years. 

For now, the stability is okay. 

There aren't special features that resolve any scalable requirements. There are scalable possibilities with other features of the 4G Gates unit but this is not so scalable.

I can't really answer this question because we've never had to use technical support. 

We used to use HP only and we still sell that. We now sell 50% FortiSwitch and 50% of our customers are staying with the HP switches.

The initial setup is very straightforward, it takes a few seconds. 

We do the deployment ourselves. 

I think this is a great product and everyone who chooses it will enjoy using it. 

I would rate this product a nine out of 10. 

The customer wanted to have a switch, but then we managed to buy a console: FortiGate. This has been deployed to control the switching. This switch has 40 access points for WiFi access. This has been deployed to the university for student access. We have the controller using FortiGate with the access point being FortiGate. So, we chose FortiSwitch to uniformize our entire equipment and the WiFi for students access.

The version depends on the version of FortiOS which is running on the switch.

The interface is great because we can do all the administrative tasks with a user vertical interface. FortiSwitch can be managed by the FortiGate, so a lot of tasks are doable using FortiGate. If you master FortiGate, you won't have a lot of difficulty mastering FortiSwitch. What I really love in FortiSwitch: its usability, the graphical user interface, and the ability to be managed by FortiGate.

The technical support could be improved.

I have been using this solution for two years.

It's stable. The installation was deployed two years ago. We haven't had any big problems with it. If there are problems, they are related to the configuration, passwords changes, and sometimes the access point loses connection. 

FortiSwitch can be managed and controlled by FortiGate. The configuration is done on FortiGate. To scale, you just need to purchase some other switches, even they are not really the same model of the one deployed. With two or three clicks, we can scale them to the other switch.

With the university example, where it is not fully functional, there are almost 2000 or 3000 students who are using the access points to access the WiFi, which are connected to the switch. 

I am almost an expert on the solution, so I don't often need support. But, if you contact Fortinet, it's a bit difficult. Most of the time, they send you just links and documents to read for troubleshooting. When you contact support, you don't need documents. You want someone that can understand your problem, give a hand, and help you. I'm not impressed by the support really.

Initial setup is like plug and play. It's really simple.

I can deploy a FortiSwitch in a maximum of one hour.

Maybe Fortinet can improve FortiSwitch's functionalities, because they are not the best on the market. Cisco switches offer more functionalities regarding access control and other features, like WLAN security. They can improve these on FortiSwitch.

It's affordable compared to other switching products, like Cisco switches. 

I can recommend the solution.

I would rate the solution as a seven (out of 10).

FortiSwitch is a member of what Fortinet calls its security fabric. 

We use this solution for access-level connectivity for phones and computers. Using it as an access point to connect to the switches directly for their POE.

The most valuable feature is that I can completely isolate devices that are compromising the network. 

I get all of my analytics from the FortiGate point of view. I have FortiGate, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiManager for all of my analytics. The analytics are collected from the switch and everything that is connected to the switch. I get a physical view of every single device that is connected to every point in my network.

I love the view, because I know which computer is connecting to what access point, as well as which computer or node is connecting to what switch and to what port. 

I don't like the way it's managed. For some of the smaller switches that we have, I was not able to log into it and manage it. I am not sure if it is something that I am missing or something that I am not doing correctly or if this applies to all switches. 

It had to be managed through the FortiGate firewall appliance, which to me is one of the downsides.

I am not sure if they have management outside of FortiGate itself.

The switches should have the capability to be managed without having to connect to FortiGate. You might have clients who are using Cisco or other solutions who would have to use FortiGate at the access level but won't be able to log in into the switch, then it would be completely useless to them and it becomes unmanaged.

There is no console port and nothing in the default IP that could help with this issue. I checked online and there was nothing available.

The dashboards are easy but a bit cloggy. The more switches that you connect the more cloggy it becomes.

We started using this solution three months ago.

This solution is stable. I love it!

I don't have to do anything. I can just see it from the FortiView, and I can point it out.

I never have issues. I don't even need to do many analytical watches, it makes life very easy.

This solution is scalable. We are a small site running only three switches, but from what I have heard, it's pretty easy to scale because of the looping feature. It uplinks and can automatically be used from your management console. I haven't done a big system, so I don't know what that would be like.

My entire company is running on Fortinet, and we have two people managing the entire environment for over forty users.

Fortinet support is fantastic, except for the morning hours. Morning hours, my time, they are very slow. I am GMT+3. Anything after three in the afternoon is very fast.

The support is generally fantastic. You can call them or write to them and they always give you a solution.

The KB online is on point.

Previously we were with Cisco, but we were already using FortiMail and received the distribution for Fortinet. We purchase Fortinet firewalls.

The firewall and the mail were already working for us, so we thought that would just do everything with Fortinet. Then we can use our company to demonstrate what Fortinet has to offer.

We have multifactor authentication running on Fortinet, FortiAnalyer, and FortiManager.

The initial setup was straightforward, it was pretty easy. Anyone can do it.

It took fifteen minutes to deploy.

I implemented this solution and did not use an integrator or a vendor.

It's affordable and there are no additional costs, just regular support, and license fees.

I am working on a roadmap to ensure that everything is running on a Secure Access and not just from the switches. I am currently working on introducing SSO and Active Directory. It's going to be extensive, where everything will be running on a secure level. 

This solution is affordable, it makes sense, and it's easy to manage so it saves you time in both practice and in technical training. You don't have to train anyone to work with Secure Access. If you are going to invest in training, just invest in the training for FortiGate. After that, your environment is good to go because everything else is self-explanatory and easy on the interface for the Secure Access and all of Fortinet solutions.

It makes economic and security sense for any organization that is intending to deploy this kind of solution. I wish that it had come sooner.

There are several switches that I have looked at, and when I am looking at the capabilities of other switches there is still much to be discovered on Fortinet. They don't have all of the capabilities, especially when it comes to the throughput.

I would rate this solution a six out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for different reasons. It depends on our customer security requirements and the projects that we are implementing for banks, hospitals, etc. 

The visual scope of the solution is very good. It allows me to see and download all of the network information.

In terms of improvements, the solution has SD-WAN but it doesn't have SDN. This should be added.

The solution can only be managed by FortiGate.

The stability of the solution is good.

The solution can scale, but there are some limitations. Our partner just started using the solution so I'm not sure how many people they have on it at this time.

Technical support is good.

The initial setup is straightforward; it's not complex.

I handled the implementation myself.

I've been using the solution for five years. We use both cloud and on-premises deployment models.

The solution is secure for small and medium-sized companies. For larger companies, you need to have an LPM on it. 

I'd rate it eight out of ten.

Our general focus as a company and partner with Fortinet is to act as one of the Security Fabric solution providers. We are trying to deliver the whole solution of the Fortinet Security Fabric to our customers. The Secure Access component is a part of that solution. 

It gives us the option to offer different solutions to our clients that fit their needs and budget.

The integration between the FortiGate and FortiSwitch — the reporting and monitoring — is perfect. The reporting and monitoring of the endpoints could not be better. So, for me, this is the best feature of FortiSwitch. 

I think that Fortinet needs to focus on its pricing and improving the packages offered to users. When our company offers a client the FortiSwitches product, the customer ends up comparing FortiSwitch's pricing directly with HP and Cisco. Both of these other products cost less but they have fewer features. Fortinet needs to bring the price down to levels that are more competitive at-a-glance with these other products. If they do that, they will take more of the market because they have more features and clients will compare by features rather than by price. It is actually justified as it stands to charge more, but customers often only see the price tag.

Another thing that could be improved, although it is not actually part of the product itself, is the technical support. The technical support team is slow to respond and the responses are not always complete.

Based on my experience with the product, I think it is very stable. Up until now, I have never seen a problem with stability.

We have clients who use the same product with a different number of users — between 20 to 100 users. I do not see any problem with performance or scalability in different implementations or different network architectures.

My customers may contact technical support directly at times. Usually, we will not need to. When we do have contact with them it is not very good, and we hear the same thing from our customers. They need to improve the technical support service. Right now, they take a lot of time to reply to tickets. Then, when they respond, they are not as helpful as they could be. They need to adopt a different approach to their method of responding to customers.

Installation is very easy, especially now that Fortinet has made a lot of videos available to understand the configuration. We have done this many times as resellers, so it is easy for us. If a person has no experience at all, he or she might be able to do it themselves, or they may need someone to help them. It depends on the person's level of experience with similar products. If he has any experience with other products, he or she will probably be able to do it without any help.

We are official partners with Fortinet so we do installations for ourselves and other companies as well.

The product is one of the most expensive that customers can consider, but the pricing is justified by the functionality. It would probably be best if they reconsidered pricing so more people will use it and they will understand the value.

As a reseller, we have evaluated many options and we use whichever one seems to be the best fit for the client.

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product as an eight. Nothing is perfect. The technical support is a bit of an issue.

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access has essential features for managing switches.

The product's pricing needs improvement for small and medium businesses.

We have recently installed the product six months ago. We never received stability-related complaints from customers. It is a stable product.

I rate the product’s scalability a seven out of ten.

We use Sophos, Aruba, and Cisco.

The initial setup process is simple as we have experience working on various networking products.

The product is costly for SMB customers compared to other brands available in the market.

I rate Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access a six out of ten.

We are a customer and end user of Fortinet.

Integration is good, as well as price and technical support.

When we started using the solution, it was quite complex but then it became easier to use. It takes a while to get used to the interface.

I have been using this solution since the beginning of 2018.

The stability is fine.

The scalability is fine.

I haven't had any issues in technical support.

We worked with an integrator, so that wasn't completely my area.

The price is good.

I would rate this solution 9 out of 10.

FortiSwitch is a great solution. It provides security access and can integrate with FortiGate. We use the devices for health environment for some companies who need to be secured.

The policies are very good.

We've had some issues with Layer 3 FortiSwitch. We can deploy the device in the cloud. However, we can't deploy this solution in complex environments easily. Sometimes, it can be challenging because configuring it for Layer 3 operations requires additional expertise and configuration.

I have been using Fortinet FortiSwitch as a partner for over a year.

The solution is scalable.

The customer service is pretty good and fast.

Positive

The solution is easy to deploy. Depending on the environment, it takes one to two days to complete. One to two network engineers can deploy the solution. I rate the deployment a nine out of ten.

The product is expensive than other vendor.

A couple of engineers are there for solution’s maintenance.

I recommend the solution. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.