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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
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Insight Access Points
Ranking in Wireless LAN
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiWLM is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Insight Access Points is 1.3%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Zachary Wheeler - PeerSpot reviewer
Impressive manufacturing quality, highly durable, and very easy to deploy
They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with. It would be nice if they had some smaller switches or hubs. They should offer two-port, three-port, or four-port devices so that you don't have to buy an eight-port switch, and you don't have to use an unmanaged element, but their product line is very complete, and I can't say enough about it.
Piyush Jain - PeerSpot reviewer
A product with load-balancing features that offers scalability to its users
My major problem is right now, the area which I need to cover is around 7,000 to 10,000 square feet, where even the mesh routers don't work out for me because it is a huge area to be covered. To cover huge areas, I will have to put extenders. I will have to use mesh routers with extenders to cover a whole huge area with Wi-Fi. I would like NETGEAR Insight Access Points to extend the area coverage they provide. One of the major problems I see is that when you try to use NETGEAR Insight Access Points, the huge amount of options that are there can only be handled by a person who is experienced or knows the process. So there should be a guide that walks anyone through different options and different things about how to go work with the UI.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This is the only product on the market currently that supports as many access points for wifi users."
"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."
"The setup was easy."
"At the moment, particularly with the COVID-19 situation, the most valuable feature is probably the IPsec VPN, which is easy to implement with Fortinet."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiWLM is the single management pane and integrated controller inside the firewall."
"In FortiWLM, it has been very reliable."
"Security is the feature we like most from Fortinet. In general, their security architecture is really great, because it involves everything: firewalls, wireless LANs, the user. Everything is really secure."
"The security is a valuable feature."
"The meshing capabilities are the most valuable feature. When I am going in-between buildings, my phone doesn't have to pick up different WiFi. They are all the same. Even in-between the buildings, I stay connected."
"The metrics demonstrate that NETGEAR really does a good job of balancing the load between the various access points on the networks and this results in an elimination of downtime."
"[Being] able to configure the WiFi devices and to see utilization remotely, or from the cloud."
"The internet connectivity is good."
"From the WiFi aspect, it's very intuitive and easy to use. The solution enables me to manage my entire WiFi from anywhere in the world..."
"I now have the ability to remote access my network. That works extremely well. I can access it from any place. I don't need to be physically at the device. This saves me on time and travel."
"We use NETGEAR's Insight management solution to do off-property controls. It is user-friendly and provides network management, monitoring, and service deployment across multiple remote and local sites. That means I don't have to be physically at a location to do things if I want to make any changes to the network. It saves time and money."
"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."
 

Cons

"Technical support is very poor. We are not satisfied with the technical support because there is not any direct person from Fortinet for any troubleshooting, which we expected."
"The pricing model can be improved to encourage use by small business and individuals and the hardware could stand to be redesigned."
"The guest management features need to be improved by adding automation."
"The initial setup is complex and has room for improvement."
"In the next release, they could improve by adding a controller-less server, or architecture that is provided in other solutions, such as Aruba. This would be a great benefit for customers."
"One of the main features that I see as lacking in any of the Fortinet products is the reporting. If you want to have proper, end-to-end reporting, you must purchase the FortiAnalyzer... If Fortinet could offer some better, built-in reporting, that would be a point of improvement."
"I cannot emphasize enough that I would always wish pricing would be a little better."
"The solution should improve user capacity."
"My major problem is right now, the area which I need to cover is around 7,000 to 10,000 square feet...I would like NETGEAR Insight Access Points to extend the area coverage they provide."
"While the data throughput does provide us with full insight into data being used, we find that it's not very accurate."
"The pricing and standard connectivity can be further improved."
"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."
"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."
"A con is the backend system which is very, very slow."
"The product's UI needs to be simplified and made more straightforward."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing has become easier. There is no longer a per-AP license needed on the controller."
"In the last few years, due in part to the impact of COVID on the market, Fortinet has increased its prices by 35 percent."
"Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year."
"The product is highly expensive. I rate the pricing a ten."
"The price of Fortinet FortiWLM is reasonable compared to the other vendors. We are using a five-year license."
"For indoor access points, there is a one-time cost, upfront, whereas outdoor access points have an annual fee."
"If a customer already is a FortiGate customer, the cost to go to the FortiAP is incredibly affordable, because you already have the controller."
"The solution is fairly priced."
"My company does not need to pay anything related to the solution's licensing costs."
"For what you get, the price of Insight access points is very 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."
"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."
"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."
"It wasn't much more than 100 dollars a year. For the devices that we have, the pricing was pretty fair."
"It is an expensive solution."
"I think that the price of the product is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

 

Also Known As

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

Learn More

 

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: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.