Likelihood to Recommend Cisco [Aironet Access Points] are well suited in offices where they can be managed by a wireless LAN controller (WLC). Using them in this way allows the APs to be well managed and security policies can easily be enforced down to users connecting to these APs for wireless access. Scenarios, where Cisco [Aironet Access Points] are less appropriate, are in small-office-home-office (SOHO) situations because of price and licensing costs to use a WLC to manage them. Thus, using them, in this case, would be that the APs would have to be in Autonomous mode, and the technical know-how in converting a lightweight AP to an Autonomous one is not straightforward.
Read full review Fortinet offers great Security features and is one of the leaders on that, and integrating Wireless LAN infrastructure with Access points proved to work rather seamlessly. Ease of management, single platform and ability to customize licensing as per needs were elements in favor of adding the Wireless LAN solution from Fortinet to our security portfolio.
Read full review Pros Until 2018, our Aironets were 1560 series, and each was managed separately. We had about 9 devices, 3-4 per floor, strategically placed on each floor to get a good coverage map over a three-floor environment. Their coverage was greater than expected. With the latest 1852 models we have, they are managed by a controller, and frankly, the coverage is a smaller area, requiring more units. We have worked with support for months and this is the final outcome of all the setting changes - we simply need more devices to cover the same area. None of the models I have used have needed reboots. We usually only reboot the devices annually, and they don't have issues requiring restarts. With the 1560 series, the connection strength was extremely consistent. With the new 1852 model, which is managed by one of the WAPs as a controller, it is supposed to use smart technology to load balance (optional) and determine which of the WAPs is appropriate to connect the requesting device to - great idea - but it does NOT work well. Read full review Really easy to configure Really easy to manage Great value for price Read full review Cons On the Mobility Express models, it’s hard to configure all from the GUI, and sometimes the GUI is buggy In Mobility Express, the (virtual) controller is not able to push the right image to the APs. This sometimes results in not joining the APs Some minor issues with firmware Read full review In the web portal, it would be nice if you could create a customer, assign that customer all the devices in the solution, and have a single pane glass to manage them all. Right now you need to access different web links to manage the devices. The security feature set could be a bit more sophistication, like an Arista AP which polices the air. Read full review Likelihood to Renew If Cisco keeps innovating the feature sets on the next 1800 models, I would definitely try it out to improve the experience of my users and to keep them on the latest technologies
Read full review Usability Pretty straightforward guide, which was built since OEAP600 AP's and never improved, this is a good thing for user to tackle when they configure the personal SSID, but does not reflect how it should be in 2020, where everything is mobile compatible and app ready. Cisco are going to have an app for this, but it comes with greater cost.
Read full review Performance Performance is great until you hit load towards the higher end of its rated load. So if you have a super highly congested wifi area, you will want to either deploy a higher end unit or split the traffic to a few of these guys to not see bandwidth issues that you may see otherwise.
Read full review Support Rating If you are able to identify the problem initially, you would be able to explain it to the TAC. In order for the TAC to understand it, the TAC engineer must be competent enough to understand it, and have the devices already in lab to test with. Each bug I encountered the TAC was able to help. And I was able to file at least 3 bugs on the 1815T and M.
Read full review Fortinet offers excellent support. They will work with you until the solution is doing what it is designed to do, within its capabilities. They also do an excellent to follow-up with the end-user prior to closing the ticket.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Cisco Aironet has it place in the modern workplace and is great for single location deployments creating a good robust affordable solution. Installing them in a plant that has exposure to environmental elements they have stood the test of time, well so far. If you are looking for multi-location, multi-national or international deployments with a single plane of glass the
Cisco Meraki MR 's are a better choice, enhancing the time to deploy and ease of management.
Read full review as a stand-alone product, the Fortinet wireless LAN solution isn't the most powerful, nor compelling out there. Others, like Cisco Meraki, offer great products, with added wifi features at a similar price point, but where Forti shines, is when integrated into a network with firewall enablement such as
FortiGate . Overall, it stacks up well with others and is a solution that needs to be evaluated in a purchasing project.
Read full review Scalability It can easily support growth and be deployed in multiple locations. The access point has an integrated controller that can manage up to a certain amount of equipment in different locations. Setup is instantaneous and takes approximately 10 minutes to configure itself.
Read full review Return on Investment We can be in Mobility Express mode where the AP provides the controller functionality to support a small to medium deployment without requiring a dedicated controller. Access Points are centrally managed via a WLC reducing the management overhead for deployment, configuration, and upgrade. Read full review Less management cost Less expensive to buy Read full review ScreenShots