Fortinet FortiAP Reviews

We are a Managed Service Provider. We manage the services of multiple clients. We manage multiple technologies. We use most of the Fortinet stack. We use FortiGate, FortiAP, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiSIEM regularly.

We needed a secure wireless LAN. We created a stack for our LAN environment where Fortinet switches are there and the Fortigate firewall is there. Some of the wireless are outdoor and indoor, and we are using FortiAP for security purposes.

Integrating multiple Fortinet systems is much easier. At times, we have the whole basket of Fortinet solutions, such as FortiGate, Fortinet switches, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiSIEM. These 5 are mostly there in the environment. They are easy to integrate, but I have seen that if I want to send the logs to a third-party SIEM, such as Splunk or QRadar, the integration is pretty good. There is no issue as such.

I deployed FortiAP at two of our campuses for about the last year. I am planning to deploy more FortiAPs at three more campuses as part of a broader plan to phase everything over and refresh everything into FortiAPs.

FortiAPs are an enterprise-level device capable of handling a large number of users and connections, ensuring quality. A benefit is their controllability by local firewalls, which simplifies management and eliminates the need to buy separate hardware or virtual appliances. 

The integration is efficient, allowing for management through the firewall. Firmware updates are also pushed to Fortinet access points. The lack of maintenance needs and their reliability means I almost never experience wireless problems in the campuses where they are deployed.

We are using the product in a few kiosks, and on a few shopping squares that our clients have. As a promotion for the client's stores inside the shopping center, we give thirty minutes of free Wi-Fi. After thirty minutes, they have to pay a small fee. Or, if they buy something, they get a voucher that can add another thirty or fifteen minutes or an hour to their Wi-Fi. It depends on how much they spend. 

However, 80% of the use is for institutions. We install it in the offices of companies. That's for when login infrastructure is not enough and we need the secure transportation of the data, especially for team meetings or for sharing of data, and the client is not too comfortable using the normal APs. It helps with authentication. 

The integration part is excellent. It integrates well with other Forti products. There are certain aspects of AP that are pretty standard to other competitors. However, the main benefit is if a company has other Forti products and wants complete integration with FortiGate and/or FortiAnalyzer. Integrated with everything, it's beautiful. We can see everything. We can detect and block anything. We get alerts for everything. FortiGate also automates the AP itself. It's great if you have a stack of Fortinet products.

We use the solution for office connectivity instead of LAN. Users are connecting to FortiAP using their wireless adapter.

The solution supports recent security components like encryption or hashing algorithms. We can control the APs from FortiGate Firewalls and integrate those APs into FortiGate. You don't have to purchase a separate controller for it.

I use the solution in my company to broadcast WiFi across various departments.

The most valuable features of the solution stem from the way the solution gets connected with Fortinet FortiGate. You can easily manage Fortinet FortiAP on Fortinet FortiGate. You can check who all are logged in, and mark their MAC addresses, and look at the website they visit. You can also upgrade the firmware, especially if you have good, suitable, or new firmware.

We deploy it for our clients, in conjunction with the FortiGate and FortiSwitch for their wireless networking connectivity.

When you deploy it with those other tools, the FortiGate and the FortiSwitch, it's very easy to manage from an administrative perspective. You can manage it from the same online interface that you can manage the switch and the firewall from. It's all kind of baked into the same console, to where you don't have to log in to your AP management, and you don't have to log in to switch management. Instead of having four or three different things to monitor and manage, it's all in one console.