Fortinet FortiWLM Reviews

We provide wireless access to customers as per the business case. The primary preferences of clients are usually to choose Fortinet, Ubiquiti, or Cisco, as these offer free consumer-based options built into the FortiGate firewall. This reduces costs and provides a unified space where we can deploy valid policies and enable first-time monitoring.

Regarding cost and financials, customers do not need to purchase an additional controller and can scale and expand as their business needs dictate. This is one of the major features in terms of cost and financial management. Additionally, we can from a single console, deploy and push firewall policies, monitor everything, lock and give access, and extend and scale easily. Furthermore, stability, adaptability, performance, and low interference of other frequencies are all managed by radio bands. This is why Fortinet is suitable for the customer.

The Fortinet FortiWLM system can be controlled through the cloud controller, which is convenient when the solution is not installed in our environment, as it allows us to manage the entire WiFi or access points and provides more adaptability.

In comparison to the Extreme and UBNT wireless solutions, we find that Fortinet falls short in terms of validity management, practice management, and firmware arrangement.

The initial setup is complex and has room for improvement.

I would like to have some customized modifications to the radio bands so that we can see which is interfering with the wireless IP. If FortiWLM could provide a tool where the user could generate a heat map of the space in which the FortiWLM is operating, this would be a valuable addition to the solution. Most organizations rely on their existing knowledge of wireless before deploying a wireless solution. When we look at the market, we see many more commercial products which provide comprehensive tools. Fortinet has the basic tool, but I don't use it because it is not flexible enough. If Fortinet could provide us with flexible customization of band management, and add a special dashboard where the user can see other devices and settings, as well as a tool to generate a heat map in the next version, this would greatly improve the solution.

I have been using the solution for one year.

The solution is stable.

The scalability is an eight out of ten.

We have used the solution in enterprise-level organizations but it is primarily for SMBs.

The initial setup is complex, especially with regard to the bad software, complex system integration with the existing infrastructure, integration with multi-factor authentication, and integration with industrial equipment. The solution also supports the industry's portables. However, the UC does not have an extensive list of industries for the portables.

Before implementing, we analyze our customer's requirements and discuss their budget, so we consider the financial aspect. Then, we recommend a customized, scalable, and flexible solution that not only meets their current requirements but also has the potential to last for the next five years. This is why we can plan and execute the solution in such a way that the customer can scale it up for the next five years.

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

I give the solution a seven out of ten.

Most of our customers prefer Cisco over Fortinet due to their longevity of almost 40 years and superior security protocols. Cisco has developed its own set of protocols, giving them flexible options to integrate and coordinate with many open-source centers, and providing excellent integration.

Fortinet FortiWLM is a good solution and I recommend it.

We use Fortinet FortiWLM in medical offices.

The most valuable features of this solution are its speed, reliability, and integration with the firewall.

Cost is something that could be improved, but you have to pay for what you get.

 I have been dealing with Fortinet FortiWLM for three years.

The series we are using is 431F.

The stability of Fortinet FortiWLM is phenomenal.

The scalability is exceptional. You can integrate into the firewall and have full visibility on a single pane of glass.

Phenomenal. Fortinet's technical support is outstanding.

Previously, we were using Meraki. We are getting better coverage, better throughput, and a more stable connection with Fortinet FortiWLM.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. It can be deployed in minutes.

I am a single person responsible to maintain, more than 18 offices and 60 APs. I do everything myself. The single pane of glass and the integration of the complete Fortinet product line, are very easy to deploy and maintain.

The prices are high, but you get what you pay for if you can afford it.

Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year.

In addition to licensing fees, there are no other costs.

We replaced Meraki, and my advice is that we switched from a mandatory maintenance contract to an optional maintenance contract, which costs significantly less per unit.

I would rate Fortinet FortiWLM a nine out of ten.

The solution is used as a wireless router.

The most valuable feature of the solution is the management.

The technical support response time can use improvement.

The pricing for the solution is expensive and can be improved.

I have been using the solution for eight years.

I give the stability a nine out of ten.

I give the scalability an eight out of ten.

The technical support team is knowledgeable but the response time can be improved.

Positive

I give the initial setup a nine out of ten. I like the way FortiGate devices manage the FortiAPs. Each AP takes between five and ten minutes to adapt to the FortiGate.

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

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

At our company we're using mainly Fortinet, instead of, say, Cisco, for firewalls and other networking solutions that we offer to customers, and right now, we only have one customer who uses FortiWLM. Unfortunately the customer was not able to properly perform a site survey during the initial project, so they now have a few problems with their WiFi network. However, we don't attribute the problems they have encountered to FortiWLM itself. The customer did not follow the instructions during the installation when we asked them to position the access points in specific sections so as not to interfere with each other.

Because of this, our experience with FortiWLM hasn't been very good, and we have not implemented any further FortiWLM solutions for other customers to date. Though, I must emphasize that it was not because of a problem with FortiWLM. It was merely because a proper site survey was not performed from the beginning, and so the positioning of the access points was not optimal.

At the moment, particularly with the COVID-19 situation, the most valuable feature is probably the IPsec VPN, which is easy to implement and manage with Fortinet.

When compared with Sonic Wall and Palo Alto, Fortinet is more straightforward, whereas with the other solutions the procedure to implement the proper IT connections for end users was somewhat more complicated. I think that's a valuable point for Fortinet, when you consider all the SD-WAN technologies that they have. They are straightforward and go well together.

The interface could certainly do with some improvement. We have other customers with WiFi networks, and they always use Ubiquiti. With Ubiquiti, it's a much better user interface, and it is much easier to configure. I managed to get some certificates myself, so I can speak for some features that we need to consider on our wireless networks that are easier to implement with Ubiquiti which aren't so straightforward with Fortinet.

When it comes to Ubiquiti, we have something that we use a lot which is similar to a site survey. Once all the access points are positioned physically inside the office, we can perform a scan on the premises themselves, so the customers can find which channels have more interference, which have less interference, and automatically distribute channels for each access point, and make it so these access points do not cause interference with each other. That feature is extremely useful for us, and it is something that is sorely lacking in Fortinet FortiWLM.

With FortiWLM, we have to perform that type of survey manually, discovering which channels have less interference, and then manually distribute these channels to each access point.

My impressions on stability are good. 

It is certainly scalable.

The tech support is good. I don't have any complaints. We have a lot of experience interacting with them and more often than not they can successfully work with us on solutions.

We have used Sonic Wall and Palo Alto products before, yet we have definitely found Fortinet to be more straightforward.

The setup is easy. Of course, I don't think it's as easy as with Ubiquiti, as that's a big sales point for them. Fortinet still has some catching up to do in this regard, but the setup is not that difficult compared to other solutions such as Meraki.

Our implementations with Fortinet solutions vary with the customer size. For a small to medium company of up to 200-250 employees, I'd say a team of four specialists would be required.

If we are only using FortiGate and FortiWLM, and if we have more products such as for email and for the client, and for the endpoints, then maybe a specialist just for Fortinet, and four to five extra people.

In general, I would say that at least two engineers would be required for a medium-sized company of about 250 employees. 

To save yourself from increased setup and maintenance costs, I highly recommend undertaking a proper site survey from the beginning. 

Fortinet FortiWLM is a good solution, though I must add that it is of paramount importance that whoever implements any WiFi solution ⁠— be it Fortinet or any other solution ⁠— must complete a site survey. In our experience with currently our only FortiWLM customer, we did not have a good experience, but again, it was simply because they did not perform a proper survey, and there's not much more to said. A site survey is very important.

I would rate Fortinet FortiWLM a seven out of ten. 

We have used the solution in an electrical company, however, they are using it for Internet only access. That is being used as the main connection to the network and is completely separate as it is being used only for Internet access on mobile devices mostly.

I have used the multiple feature keys that were available and they allow each user to have their own feature key. 

A good feature is the IP security profiles, IPFS, anti-virus, RIP filtering, as that can be used with FortiGate as a wireless controller.

The solution is stable.

Technical support is helpful.

The scalability is good.

Although there are a few steps, the initial setup is pretty straightforward.

There is a need to put a logging device in, which could be an analyzer, so that, if you want to have an inside-up graph and weekly and monthly graphics reports, you'd be able to do so.

When using the FortiGate as the wireless controller, you cannot have automatic user registration, which is something that they should offer. That way, you can email the user, in their account, and it would be easier.

We haven't heard any negative feedback about the stability. The clients seem happy. I haven't heard of bugs or glitches. It's reliable.

The scalability is good. Our clients seem happy with its capabilities.

In terms of technical support, it depends on your license. From my experience, they have been available at any time and they can help with troubleshooting by going into the command line and stuff like that. They are helpful and responsive.

The initial setup is a little more work due to the fact that we have to set up the controller. It's not as difficult, however, you have more steps.

For a small setup, you only need one person to manage the implementation.

I have not looked into ROI as of yet.

We are a Fortinet partner. I have used the U 231, the U 431F versions of the solution.

You can implement this solution and get authentication, and we'd like to see more features for onboarding and reporting.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

I have a friend who used to work at Sun Microsystems and when they were bought by Oracle he moved to Fortinet Switzerland. Now he is the boss of the wireless section of Fortinet Switzerland. We are building an apartment building with 30 floors that is the tallest residential building in the country. The name is Jabee Tower in Dübendorf. We have two penthouse flats there and each flat has 14 wireless access points. That is more access points than you could have with any other normal wifi system; you can not buy this kind of access capability through another vendor.  

We have committed to the technology and now we are dependent on the Fortinet controller and the V2 cell technology which is exclusive to Fortinet. Fortinet obtained this by buying out a company called Meru Systems which is the inventor of the concept of V2 cell. The product allows their product to always maintain the same SSID (Service Set Identifier) for the BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) clients using the service. It is a kind of breakthrough in technology. So it is really unique and there is no competition for this type of solution at the moment. That is why Fortinet is the leading manufacturer in this area of cell technology.  

The leading-edge technology was the reason I came to use Fortinet — not only because my friend was working there. But because their technology is very much on the leading edge of the marketplace we have a lot of interesting opportunities.  

The concept of V2R cell services [similar to wifi hotspot technology], is a concept where a controller monitors the access points in the installation. It is possible to reduce the transmission power and that can reduce exposure of users and the community to the electrobiological effects of wifi. The goal is to try to reduce the radio power necessary and to only transmit the signal that you have to transmit to reach the access point.  

In my work, I try to protect people from electronic emissions and V2R is one of my weapons against the current problems with exposure to wifi. You do not have to go blindly like Norway does and transmit with 100 milliwatts or 200 milliwatts of exposure if you have a better solution like V2R.  

So the concepts where the controller is involved must be used in order to reach these goals at this time. In the Aruba product there is also a solution for the controller, but it does not do as much as the Fortinet. So Fortinet is alone on the ground level with this new concept.  

On the other hand, the V2R cell solution has a limited lifespan because we know that wifi six is coming up. Wifi six is solving the transmission problems of wifi roaming in a different way. But for now, there is no competition for the V2R cell.  

Something that can be improved by Fortinet is the organization-wide policy on service contracts. I find that it is a little bit stressful. They have a business model where whatever you buy, you must make a service contract. You can do that for one year or three years or five years. But it seems a little bit like a moneymaking machine rather than a necessity. They require these service contracts and that is not always so well accepted by the clients.  

To judge the circumstances of the market by bigger business clients who can afford these additional fees may not be the best way to create policy. I work mostly with smaller clients on the threshold of breaking into a bigger business landscape. Mostly those clients are private people and for these people, these business requirements Fortinet has in place are not the best way to build up their successes.  

I guess I cannot criticize their practices as failing because the company is obviously successful with it. I understand that they also need to make money for evolution, for research and development to stay competitive. But for the private sector, there is a gap. You have these professional suppliers like Aruba and Fortinet and then you have the small suppliers whose products you can buy in the shop around the corner. There is nothing in between. I think Fortinet could be more friendly toward smaller companies and individuals so they could have success with the products while building their businesses and then they are more likely to continue to use the products later.  

I guess one other improvement they might consider making is with the design of the product. They do not have the most beautiful equipment I have seen in my life. They could hire a designer and the products could be improved substantially in a visual way.  

I have been using this product for about one year.  

The stability is perfect. I have no problems with the product in that way.  

My clients could be any size: small, medium or enterprise companies. It does not matter but for the costs. All size users can be my clients, but for the moment I am mostly involved with private clients. I am involved in electrobiology in my personal endeavors. Wifi is on the corner of our activity because it is part of this field somewhat tangentially, but I am more of a consultant in electrobiology with an interest in how radio transmissions from wifi affects people.  

I had some calls with Fortinet technical support, which is in India, and I had some very good experiences with their team. It was very professional and I got my answers within a reasonable time.  

I'm quite happy with both their online support and telephone support. It is very professional and there is nothing to complain about in that respect.  

Before Fortinet Wireless, I was working with Aruba. Aruba was not bad and we did use it quite a bit before it was bought by HP. But it did not have the same capabilities as Fortinet. We also used ASUS [a name derived from Pegasus] Access Point for some time. I have used modified third-party firmware called Tomato that can help control the behavior of different routers from other manufacturers. I also used DD-WRT [DD is the German car numberplate code for Dresden, Germany; WRT is "Wireless Receiver/Transmitter"] which is another third-party firmware solution.  

When we started, we were using Linksys hardware a lot and then we switched to ASUS hardware. Then we went with this special firmware Tomato released for our ASUS hardware. That was a good solution and it was our main product for a while. It was a progression over time.  

The difficulty of the initial setup probably depends a lot on the level of user who is trying to use it. In the beginning, it took me only one day to do the setup because I had some similar experience. It took me one day for Aruba and it took me one day for Fortinet. The average, intelligent person can learn to set up this solution in a short period of time. But I would not say that it is intuitive for just anyone. You have to learn some theory about the controller and what the controller is doing. You have to read a few manuals. But it is almost intuitive, in general, and easy if you have some experience and are willing to learn. It is not made for a common laborer or for a housewife. It is made for an engineer who can read the manual and understand what is supposed to happen. It is quite usable in that case.  

We do the deployments and implementations ourselves.  

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

There is currently no competition for the Fortinet product. My experience over time with providing wifi solutions was my evaluation period.  

My advice to people is that the V2R radio solution is very good and that they should give it a try. Get a few access points — the minimum is two — to experience the V2R access concept.  

When I was first playing with the solution, I set up the software controller on a virtual machine in the lab. Just with two access points, one controller and the V2 concept. That was an eye-opening experience. When you see it working, you immediately become a fan. You will make a prayer for this technology.  

What is not so good is that Meru came out with the solution a little too late because now it will have a limited life and it will die. In five years, it will be obsolete. That is the long-term downside, but for the moment there is no alternative.  

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate Fortinet Wireless as a nine-out-of-ten. They could improve a few things like the fact that the access points get a little hot and use a lot of energy. It is running at 30 watts per access point. Also, you need to power the access points over the ethernet, so the ethernet power must be strong. It is not possible to power it from switches. They should do something about the power problem.  

But even with the drawbacks, my recommendation to others would be to give the solution a try.  

We were looking to upgrade to the latest standard and increase speed. The reason we went with Fortinet is the whole system Fabric, with the FortiGate and Fortinet Wireless product.

One of the big reasons that we kept moving in the Fortinet direction, expanding the Fabric, is that we wanted to tighten security from within our network. The students like to play a lot and we had to protect from the inside, as well as the outside. As people know, the users are becoming more and more of a threat. Having the single pane of glass, by using the Fortinet Security Fabric, allows us to tighten security, and more easily and quickly create additional VLANs to help protect data. Rules in the firewall mean we can protect data and systems so that, should anything go wrong, any security issue is held to an individual device.

Since using the product - and we have security issues like everybody does, all the time - with the Fortinet Security Fabric all the way to the endpoint, we've been able to make sure the security threat is isolated to that device. The FortiClient usually quarantines it and that saves tons of time. Before, when we would have a security breach, we would have to go to a different system and check and trace it. Now, when there's a security breach of any kind, it gets quarantined quickly. And because of the interaction of the Fabric, we're able to see exactly how it was quarantined, and it saves us an incredible amount of time, in reacting to those security issues.

The most valuable feature for us is the way everything is accessible through FortiGate. Having that single pane of glass to see everything makes it really easy to use, to set up and design the SSIDs and the interaction with the VLANs that you create. It just makes it that much easier.

We can deploy a tunnel-based VLAN and SSID, for something that happens at the last minute, in a matter of minutes, because of the interaction between the FortiGate, the FortiSwitches, and the FortiAPs.

The thing we like best about the single pane of glass is that by looking at the screen on the FortiGate, we're able to actually see the status of the access points. It pulls in client data from the access points, so we can see who is connected and the connections that are working. We can follow the connection all the way through the firewall, to the end destination. It really assists in troubleshooting any kind of connection issue or filtering issue we may have.

In terms of the Fortinet Security Fabric, one of the reasons we kept expanding with, and choosing, Fortinet products is because of that Security Fabric. We are continuing to expand on that. Currently, we have, of course, the FortiGate, and that Fabric is extended to the FortiSwitches we use, the FortiAPs, as well as the FortiAnalyzer, which is used to collect logs from all the devices, from both the wireless and the FortiGate.

An example of how that's helpful is, if we're trying to troubleshoot a problem - and being a school, we filter data heavily - it takes a while, sometimes, to track down a problem that users might be having with a website. With it all being tied together, we're able to actually trace it right down to what website might be categorized incorrectly, so we can get that corrected so that the users aren't interrupted.

We also have the FortiAuthenticator which authenticates users seamlessly with the FortiClient that's on their devices. It also polls Active Directory Servers, so we have transparent identification of all of our users. That allows our devices to get on the network, yet they're viewable: We know who it is, what device it is, and we can track it all the way to where they're going, without any interaction from the user. It makes it a lot simpler to manage a large number of people and devices.

We're a reference customer for Fortinet, so I get a lot of calls, usually from other schools or colleges, that are looking at deploying the product. When talking to them, they tell me about some of the things that they're looking at. There are some other companies out there that have a feature that's on the access point that allows them to mimic users.

For example, if you have an access point in an area, and people are complaining about an issue, the feature that I'm being told is on a competitor's device would allow you to connect to that access point, and actually impersonate a connected device. You're able to troubleshoot any issue that an end-user may be reporting, and hopefully duplicate it. To me, that seems like an amazing feature.

I would like to see something like that in the Fortinet solution.

Like with any new solution that you put in, with this kind of complexity, it takes a little bit of time to stabilize. Anything that you do to a network takes a little bit of time for you to get to the point where it stabilizes.

It's been fairly stable right from the start. It's not like we had any major issues or outages. It continues to get more and more stable as they address the bugs. When I talk about bugs, a lot of people might think, "Well, it's got some bugs in it." But when you look at the details of the number of the products that you're using in the Fabric, it is understandable that they do have to work some of that stuff out. None of the bugs cause any operational issues.

Most of the bugs we see are a little inconvenience, where we have to do something in a slightly different way until the fix release. With the next release, it becomes more and more stable.

We knew up front, when we did the deployment, that we were going to have to deal with a few more bugs because we purposely went with the new version. We decided we wanted to work at it until we got stable on the new version. Once we get there, we'll probably step back and wait a little bit until the next version comes out. Right now, we're FortiOS 6.03 and 6.2 is going to be coming out, probably sometime next year. We'll probably move to 6.2 six to nine months, or longer, after it's out, depending on what features we want.

It's extremely scalable. As long as your firewall is big enough to handle your needs, and the connection, the product is extremely scalable. They're very good at supporting products for a decently long amount of time.

When we did the access-point switchover, we upgraded our firewall. The firewall we replaced was six years old. We would have been able to stay on that firewall, but at the same time, because of all the other work we were doing, we wanted to expand it, knowing that we were probably going to keep it for an extended amount of time. 

They're very good at keeping support on the product; updates as far as they can. At the time that we retired our product, it was just about to the point where it was not going to support the next versions of the software. Even though we only had it for six years, we did buy an older model when we bought it because of cost. So the product was actually an eight-year-old product. And it did very well.

Unfortunately, with any product, as detailed as tech products are today, you tend to have use tech support. Even before, with Cisco, we had little tech support issues, because of the way technology and security is blowing up so quickly, and the detail in the all the products. All products have small issues or bugs or may have a little glitch where they don't work.

Fortinet has them, but they're very good about helping you work around them, and then getting a release to fix that bug. We did run into a few of them, but none of them were major bugs that caused a huge interruption. They were minor bugs. 

Tech support is pretty good at analyzing it, and saying, "This is what it is," and coming up with a solution to work around it.

We even have quarterly reviews, where they come onsite and we sit down and we talk. We talk about what's going on, what we like, any issues that we have. They've been really great. They'll say, "Well, what are you doing after this?" They don't take up a ton of our time, just enough to nudge us in the right direction. 

The sales engineer is someone else who, if I have a question or anything, I can shoot an email his way and he'll give me an answer right away.

And if I have a ticket in that might be more major, something that I need a little bit more quickly, if I shoot them the ticket number and ask them to escalate it, they'll get more people involved, to work at getting a workaround, or a solution for it. They're really good about that.

Our previous wireless solution was Cisco. That was our first wireless solution. We used Cisco 3500s and 3700s. We needed to upgrade so we could handle more bandwidth, because the access points that we had were starting to get overloaded, and older.

When we were looking for a solution, that's when we did the tests. We got a few in, in a couple of buildings, and did some tests. We wanted to see how the Fortinet solution worked. That's what really sold us on it: how easily they integrated with everything else - because we had the FortiGate - and the way it just popped into the environment.

As a result, we started looking further into the switches. When we did our upgrade, we upgraded the switches at the same time that we upgraded the FortiAPs. We were able to greatly increase the security on our entire network.

The setup of the FortiAPs is very straightforward and very easy to do. We chose to pre-deploy them, because of how we were going to have to deploy them, so that I had a team put them up and they were already labeled, because of the quantity that we were doing. Pre-deploying them, so the system already had the names on them, made it a little easier. All I had to is have people go hook them up. Once they hooked them up, I could complete the configuration, and it was super-easy, super-fast.

When we did the initial deployment, we did one building in one day, and we monitored that building and watched for any issues, to make sure that we had the settings and configuration correct. Then we turned around and we did the remaining nine buildings in a week. That was a total of 400 APs.

It went really smoothly. The interface and the original setup make it really easy. I was able to have a bunch of people putting them online and, as they did, I could see them come online. The way that the interface is built, being able to assign a profile, and having all that pre-built, it went really quickly.

Our deployment strategy was a staged implementation. Originally, we did a test, just to make sure we were going to be happy with the performance. Then, when we did the one building, that was the model. We had a little bit of time between that building and the rest, so we could tweak the implementation. That really assisted in us being able to do the number that we did in that short amount of time.

When I say it took us a week to do all those buildings, that included not just the AP part of it, but all the things we had to do to the network to allow everything to work. In a school setting, it's a lot more in depth, because that includes filtering which is a great deal more detailed than it is in most enterprises.

The neat thing about Fortinet technology is that it's so intuitive, it's so easy to use, anybody who is a network engineer is able to understand the technology and get it working pretty well. Documentation, cookbooks, and videos are available to help you. If you ever need any help, calling the Support Desk you get right through and they'll point you in the right direction.

Through the whole deployment, I only had two or three calls to them, and they were more about best practices: "We're doing it this way, would it be better if we did it the other way?" In some instances they said, "Well, you probably oughta test it." We did some testing so that we were able to make sure that we had the best solution for our situation.

We started testing about two years ago and deployed it across the entire school corporation about a year ago.

Fortinet's pricing and licensing is very reasonable. There are a few things that are a little bit different.

One of the reasons that we chose it is because we're a school and we're always looking at the bottom line. We've gone with this solution because it's been able to reduce our cost in other areas to get the same results. The amount of money that we save is allowing us to do the rest of the stuff right. Because of the savings, we're able to do some of the security things that, previously, we couldn't do because our hands were tied, due to the extra costs. We have realized somewhere around 30 percent savings. That has allowed us to focus more on the end-user experience, rather than on security and management.

There is one thing that I find extremely strange, and this something that is unique to Fortinet, and it isn't a positive at all. Any time I have an RMA (return merchandise authorization) if it's not considered a "DOA," which is within the first 120 days, even if I have paid support on the device, I have to pay to return the device back. For a customer like us, that's a little bit more difficult because of the way funding works and where we're located. It makes it a very big challenge to get devices back to them.

We just had an issue with an AP that was covered with a three-year extended warranty, and it failed. They sent us one right away, but we had to pay to ship the other one back. That's just not an industry standard at all. I could understand it more if it was a device that I had chosen not to cover, but on a device that you actually are paying premiums for, that's just not the industry standard at all.

We looked at Aruba, we looked at Cisco Meraki, and we also looked at Aerohive. They were all good solutions, but the reason that we chose the FortiAP solution was because of that single pane of glass and that tight integration with FortiGate. It made it so much easier to manage, and so much easier for us to do things if we need to something at the last minute. If we need to create a network for someone at the last minute, we are able to do so very quickly. The other ones just didn't have that. 

I can't stress enough: If a customer already is a FortiGate customer, the cost to go to the FortiAP is incredibly affordable, because they already have the controller. Now, Fortinet does also have a separate Fortinet Wireless controller, and it does add some extra bling features. We are fine without those features. A lot of those extra features are tight integration with the port of presence, which is used to collect email addresses, and for monitoring. It's something that you'd use more in a shopping mall setting or a store.

Make sure that you take the time to do a really good evaluation of the product. Make sure that you're happy with all the aspects of how it's going to fit into your environment. I'm always the type who wants the best solution, whether it be with a different vendor or not. That's one of the things that I was concerned about. I wanted the very best access point I could have.

I was extremely surprised by the single-pane-of-glass management. I couldn't understand all the marketing, how they really push it. It's something that you don't really realize, until you're actually working with it, how powerful it is and how much time it saves you, and how much, in the long run, by going with the Security Fabric, you get increased security cost savings, and a better view of what's going on.

There are two of us who use the solution. I do most of the configuration and setup and my colleague does our one-to-one security in our system networking. He deals more with the filtering, the compliance part, with the desktops. If there's a network issue, or connection issue, I deal more with that.

Our relationship with Fortinet started out with the firewall. At the time we were looking for a solution, we used a product from FatPipe which did load balancing on multiple ISP lines. At the time, we had multiple lines - we had three different internet service providers because that was how we had to do it to get the bandwidth that we needed. We were using FatPipe to allow us to load balance our outgoing traffic over the multiple ISPs, and coming back in.

We worked on coming up with another solution and, at the last minute, CDWG called us and asked us if we would talk to Fortinet because they thought it would be a good fit. We did talk to them and were impressed. We went ahead and got the device in and, not only did it solve the problem we were looking at for less than half the cost of the other solutions, but it also replaced three other devices at the same time.

We just kept expanding, testing out its features. Eventually, we moved our web filtering to it. We installed the switches. We move to the APs and kept expanding on the Fabric. We moved our antivirus/anti-malware to FortiClient, and FortiClient also acts the single sign-on agent. It does the vulnerability assessment, scanning for programs that need patching, security patches, and then it auto-patches them.

It has slowly become a more cost-effective way for us to manage our security and our entire network, at a little bit of a reduced cost, and with a much better view of what's going on.

In terms of increasing the solution, we use the FortiAnalyzer but we're getting ready to switch to the FortiAnalyzer appliance, to increase our logging capabilities. We've finished evaluating the FortiClient EMS for Chromebook portion and we're getting ready to buy some licenses for those. We currently filter Windows and IOS devices using the FortiClient EMS solution, but we're adding support for Chromebooks and we're adding a few Chromebooks, so we're expanding there.

For the FortiClient piece, on the Windows and IOS device side, there's a Telemetry piece. It ties the FortiClient EMS and your FortiGate together. It allows your FortiGate to actually increase compliance for the FortiClient piece, which is the security filtering and single sign-on piece that sits on the client. We are purchasing that.

We're looking at adding the threat detection service, but we're probably going to wait until renewal time. With all the data that you collect, because you have the Fabric, the threat detection that takes a deeper dive. It analyzes and it looks into your systems further, all the way through to the endpoint. It can give you insight into the issues that you may or may not have known that you have. We'll probably add that piece next year.

We purchased through a reseller. We have a really close partnership with CDWG and they were the ones who introduced us to Fortinet. Our experience with CDWG was a positive one because it opened the door to other opportunities within the same product.

We've always had a really good relationship with them. Somehow, I've been dealing with the same salesperson at CDWG for 15 or 20 years now.

I use Fortinet FortiWLM for wireless communication and the internet. 

The solution should improve user capacity. 

I have been working with the solution for three months. 

I rate Fortinet FortiWLM's stability an eight out of ten. 

I rate the tool's scalability a ten out of ten. 

Fortinet FortiWLM's installation was easy. 

The tool offers good returns on business. 

Fortinet FortiWLM's pricing is regular and competitive. 

I rate the product a nine out of ten.