Cradlepoint Routers vs. FortiAP

It has worked great for our emergency vehicles and mobile remote dispatch stations. We did have them at other bases as secondary internet access in the event of failure of our fiber, but I have found that is not as useful as we thought it may have been. I have temporarily disabled cellular on those devices and just did not have the need for it.

Incentivized

Any rollout is well suited for a FortiAP - from small office networks, to large warehouse deployments. Adding additional APs to your network is simple and easy. Monitoring is simple with Forticloud monitoring. Configuring the devices can be as complex or as simple as you need. Adding additional Fortinet devices (I have switches and firewalls) makes the network even more secure and easy to manage - all devices working in tandem make monitoring much easier

Incentivized

• Ease of setup. After the SIM card is installed, you can have the device up in a matter of minutes.
• Central management using NetCloud.
• You get the bang for your buck.

Incentivized

• Provide secure wifi
• deploys easily
• facilitates users connectivity when moving between offices

Incentivized

• Throughput was not great compared to similar solutions with same sim cards.
• Paid management portal.
• Overly complicated setup mainly due to the paid management portal.

Incentivized

• Better to work with a Fortinet partner, their support is inadequate.
• Maybe a lack of security features when using it without Fortigate

Incentivized

I have been using some type of device like this for a very long time. We have and will maintain the need for this and have no immediate plan to make any change from Cradlepoint Routers. They have been very solid. These devices are a bit pricey, however worth the money as they always work and are reliable and save IT staff time.

Incentivized

This is an excellent product for an SMB - cost isn't outrageous and deploy is simple. I can monitor my network without breaking the bank.

Incentivized

I love FortiAP and how easy they are to use. It's very quick to train people to use them at a basic to intermediate level.

Incentivized

It has always been a pleasure working with that team. They always go above and beyond with getting the device working as you need it to work and are always willing to explain and answer any questions.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

I have not used a cellular router before this, so I can't compare.

I am however familiar with Cradlepoint as designing components for Emergency Responders to keep them connected and online while dispatched. That was a deciding factor for us. We wanted something heavy duty and reliable.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

• For the price I don't think it effectively "wow'd" the client.
• Throughput caused our network service to not be fully utilized.

Incentivized

• Less management cost
• Less expensive to buy

Incentivized