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FortiExtender: A must have for branch office FortiGate installs
January 21, 2019

FortiExtender: A must have for branch office FortiGate installs

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Fortinet FortiExtender

We currently have FortiExtender's installed at our facilities to back up our Fiber and Cable services. It's primary purpose is to ensure uptime for credit card processing and other critical services when an outage on hardline internet connections is down. Our facilities are located well away from population centers, and the FortiExtender has allowed our business to function through multiple outages in the last 3 years.
  • Direct integration and management through the FortiGate Firewalls we use.
  • Easy SD-Wan implementation in the FortiGate platform.
  • Can be installed in a separate area of the facility from the Firewalls, allowing the installation location to be determined by Signal, where a USB modem would have to be plugged directly into the Firewall at it's current location.
  • When there is a problem, the errors provided in the GUI are unhelpful. In order to have a chance of solving most issues I've come across, you need to be comfortable with the CLI.
  • Most products in the FortiGate product line do not offer POE power support. The Extender requires POE and has no internal battery. This requires a switch or injector between the extender and the firewall. In the event of a power outage, you lose the extender if you don't have it plugged into an adequate battery. As it's installation can be in a different location then the FortiGate, this can be a hassle.
  • These devices have kept our cashiers collecting money when the internet goes out. Our Management loves hearing that nothing has stopped money from being collected.
  • It is also very useful to have an out-of-band source of connection for VPN use as well as ensuring IT alerting continues to function in the event of an ISP outage.
  • Direct management from within the FortiGate has made it very easy to monitor and has removed a bunch of devices from our regular upkeep and maintenance routines.
FortiExtender requires a connection to a FortiGate firewall. If you are a FortiGate shop and are looking for a 4G backup connection, then there is no reason to look elsewhere, the direct management from the FortiGate, the ability to use usage statistics and status in your SD-Wan config are worth it. If you do not use FortiGate firewalls, then please look elsewhere, you can not configure this device independently.