Fortinet FortiWLM Reviews

We're putting together one of our more complex Fortinet environments. It involves switch-to-switch fiber connections, and it also includes the deployment of outdoor access points to power cameras, in addition to providing WiFi. There is also the deployment of a firewall, and I believe they are going to convert all level two or level one switches to level three. 

It is deployed on-prem.

It is enabling us to have an internet connection to remote locations on the client's property to drive security cameras with complete coverage. It is an incredibly harsh outdoor environment subject to lightning, sun, and heat. It is pretty much the worst tech environment you could ever imagine. When we opened up some of the access points in front of the client to show them, he was absolutely floored or impressed by the manufacturing quality and the durability. It had an instant customer buy and acceptance. They're a Cisco house, so the introduction of this Fortinet was our doing, and so far, it has been doing very well for someone who's new to the Fortinet family.

We are working with the whole portfolio from Fortinet, including switches, access points, firewalls, and everything related to network and security engineering. We also provide presales explanations and have several vendors in our portfolio, with a focus on Fortinet and cScaler for security.

The greatest advantage is the security fabric Fortinet offers. It allows for easy administration through a common GUI, making it straightforward to manage all aspects of the solution. 

The solution's integration capability with third-party products is seamless and operates easily with vendors like Cisco and SentinelOne. It's structured, user-friendly, and clear, especially compared to previous experiences with Check Point. 

FortiWLM also supports compliance with industry-specific regulations by offering tools for PCI awareness and risk scoring.

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.

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.  

Our customers are essential. We install the solution and provide support alongside our customers. Any company needing to integrate with a single vendor for firewall, switching, and endpoint solutions should work with us.

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

We use  Fortinet FortiWLM in an office environment with 10 floors. It's a campus/office/remote office environment.

Fortinet FortiWLM has benefited our organization.