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Fortinet FortiWLM vs NETGEAR Insight Access Points comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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
6.2
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Insight Access Points
Ranking in Wireless LAN
22nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiWLM is 2.9%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Insight Access Points is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiWLM2.9%
NETGEAR Insight Access Points1.6%
Other95.5%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

LuayHlaleh - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Team Lead at IT Solutions AE
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.
DG
Owner at ERIM S.A.
Centralized management has simplified our home Wi‑Fi setup and supports multiple users reliably
Given my experience with NETGEAR Insight Access Points, my piece of advice for other organizations considering it is that they have to look at the rest of their system because NETGEAR Insight Access Points is quite useless with anything but the Wi-Fi system. I rate this product an 8 out of 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The firewall integration is very important for the security of the connection."
"We innovate the business process, we innovate how employees work in their companies, and in the case of stores we are bringing new results and new income, helping them grow their sales with customers who like to go to their stores because they can access the information they need, connect to the wireless LAN, compare prices, and engage with the retail store."
"The security is a valuable feature."
"The product is a stable solution."
"The setup was easy."
"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 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."
"We're using SD-WAN at all of our locations now, which helps increase and aggregate and lower response time and improve application performance."
"I find the centralized management of NETGEAR Insight Access Points very beneficial because we are using five access points, and it is quite useful to be able to manage them centrally."
"From the WiFi aspect, it's very intuitive and easy to use, and the solution enables me to manage my entire WiFi from anywhere in the world."
"My advice would be to go ahead and switch to this one, because this is the best-performing device I have seen so far."
"The GUI is pretty stable—I haven't had any issues go down—and it's pretty user-friendly, enabling me to remotely make certain changes via my phone and apply them right away, which makes life easier when it comes to managing the equipment."
"I am all about simplicity. With the Insight management solution, I don’t need an additional cloud controller, appliance, network manager, or PC/server to configure and manage my access points. You have to look at cost, and everything has a cost. There is a cost to using Insight. But if the cost is reasonable, I don't want another layer. The ability to deploy a network and then have that software built-in, without having to go to a third-party, is big. Also, the less pieces that I have to call in on, the better. So, when I'm calling NETGEAR, it's not like I'm using some third-party piece of software to manage their product. It doesn't add that layer of complexity, which is key."
"The initial setup of NETGEAR Insight Access Points was straightforward."
"The product's deployment is straightforward."
"The solution enables me to manage my entire network from anywhere in the world."
 

Cons

"Improving support and firmware upgrades is necessary. Firmware upgrades and bug improvements need to be tested well."
"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."
"Documentation could be improved."
"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."
"There are currently issues with Fortinet's software quality. We have concerns regarding the frequent updates needed because of short software cycles."
"Overall, I find it useful, though I have concerns because after every update, some functionality is deleted or closed."
"Areas for improvement would be the compatibility with Apple products and cross-platform integration."
"In terms of improvements, the price is higher than I would like. A reduction in pricing would be beneficial."
"The biggest issue I've had is that it works very well with the WiFi, but it does not offer any assistance at all with the routers. You can't control them or manage them at all. As soon as you want to use anything on the network side—because I have multiple 28-port switches—you can't manage them using this app."
"The biggest issue I've had is that it works very well with the WiFi, but it does not offer any assistance at all with the routers."
"I have some frustrations with the ease of use. It tends to be sluggish. The graphical interface is pretty, but not useful. They have this tree that shows connected devices, which makes no sense whatsoever because the labeling field of the tree truncates all the items to the point that it's almost useless. You can't even tell what it is. I would prefer a spreadsheet list of the gear as opposed to a graphical representation."
"Ubiquiti is a very good company. NETGEAR should look at that model and expand on its remote capabilities. Ubiquiti seems to have a better product."
"The product's UI needs to be simplified and made more straightforward."
"When it comes to features needing improvement, the WAX610, WAC540 and the WAX610Y do not reliably stay online and this is especially true of the WAC540."
"I have some frustrations with the ease of use. It tends to be sluggish."
"A con is the backend system which is very, very slow."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing has become easier. There is no longer a per-AP license needed on the controller."
"Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year."
"Licensing costs are reasonable. There are so many different types of licenses with Fortinet, but the licensing and the 24/7/365 support are so reasonable that I automatically include it with every transaction. I never line item it without it. There are no additional costs."
"The solution is expensive. I give the solution a one out of ten for the price."
"To save yourself from increased setup and maintenance costs, I highly recommend undertaking a proper site survey from the beginning."
"The solution is fairly priced."
"Fortinet would do something with their pricing model to attract smaller business users and eliminate the mandatory service contracts."
"The product is highly expensive. I rate the pricing a ten."
"I think that the price of the product is reasonable."
"I can source the stuff pretty quickly wherever I go through the distributor. There is pricing available at NETGEAR if you can spend between $2,000 and $5,000 on a solution. So, there is special pricing that they can help with. The vendor's reps are very responsive. They have a good channel system."
"The pricing seems to be reasonable."
"Their pricing is perfect for smaller businesses who are money and budget conscious. There are a lot of other solutions out there that are two to three times more expensive."
"My company does not need to pay anything related to the solution's licensing costs."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Price-wise, it is a little too high, about $20 higher than what it should be, but it's worth it. It's cheaper than Cisco's access point, but the products are not apples to apples."
"It wasn't much more than 100 dollars a year. For the devices that we have, the pricing was pretty fair."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Retailer
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWLM?
I do not have knowledge about the pricing or the cost of Fortinet FortiWLM because the license is for the package of the firewall, FortiGate.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWLM?
Overall, I find it useful, though I have concerns because after every update, some functionality is deleted or closed. For the moment, I don't have anything else in Fortinet FortiWLM that I would l...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiWLM?
I use this solution for the enterprise to segment the department.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETGEAR Insight Access Points?
My impression of the pricing aspect of NETGEAR Insight Access Points is that it is not exactly cheap. I find the pricing reasonable, but it is at the upper end of the reasonable bracket.
What needs improvement with NETGEAR Insight Access Points?
Managing users could be improved as it is quite difficult to block someone, and it is impossible to block someone on one specific access point. Regarding specific features that I would like to see ...
What is your primary use case for NETGEAR Insight Access Points?
We are using NETGEAR Insight Access Points in a domestic environment with four or five users.
 

Also Known As

FortiWLM, FortiAP, Fortinet AP/OAP, Meru Wireless LAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiWLM vs. NETGEAR Insight Access Points and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.