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Anonymous_User
Contributor
August 19, 2008
Question

Fortigate WiFi using Linksys Wireless Router?

  • August 19, 2008
  • 9 replies
  • 5735 views
I should have bought the WiFi version of the Fortigate 60B... that was my first mistake... Since I have spare interfaces... is it possible to configure both peices and use the Linksys as a wireless access point? I was hoping to turn off DHCP and just plug it into the DMZ port...

    9 replies

    mhe
    mhe
    Explorer II
    August 19, 2008
    Yes, just set the default gateway of your WLAN AP to the FG' s Interface IP and create firewall policies as neccessary... martin
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 19, 2008
    I did something similar here for our guest wireless access. But our DMZ port is used as a DMZ. I changed the 60B' s internal connections to switch mode giving me 6 internal interfaces and made one of those our guest wireless access network. I didn' t have a wireless AP laying around so I configured an older wireless router we had like a AP. I disabled DHCP on the router and DHCP is handled by the FortiGate on that interface. -- David
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 19, 2008
    Thanks guys! This was a huge amount of help. I didn’t know it was possible and I didn’t want to have to sell and re-buy the WiFi version. I will switch the 60B to Interface Mode and I have two WiFi access points/Linksys routers... I may use one for open guest access but only allow port 80 in and out, along with a Local Authentication on the 60B to get an outbound connection. (No WEP or MAC filtering) But a password to use the network. The second WiFi point I was going to use to connect to our internal office LAN. It would be a separate network but I will enable MAC and WEP but users will have to use a VPN connection to be dropped onto our local SBS network. Im not a huge fan of WiFi networks but these guys are asking me for one. I figure the VPN connection would ensure the privacy/security of our LAN. Hopefully what I am trying to do should work… let me know it if sounds a little far fetched.
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 20, 2008
    Just FYI, I got it all set up tonight... worked like a charm on the first try. Thanks for the input! This got me thinking... whats so special about the more expencive wireless access points made by HP and Cisco? Also, if I wanted to extend range, could I add another Linksys AP to the other side of my house without any issues?
    rwpatterson
    rwpatterson
    New Member
    August 21, 2008
    ORIGINAL: FortiNoob This got me thinking... whats so special about the more expencive wireless access points made by HP and Cisco?
    More money, more options...
    abelio
    SuperUser
    abelio
    SuperUser
    August 21, 2008
    ORIGINAL: rwpatterson
    ORIGINAL: FortiNoob This got me thinking... whats so special about the more expencive wireless access points made by HP and Cisco?
    More money, more options...
    Also ' brand money' ... many times those 2 bigguys can claim more money for similar things and features.. They know that no one IT manager or CTO was fired just by buying Cisco or HP.
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 22, 2008
    I havent done too much research into the dd-wrt firmware, but I do have a few WRT54G routers laying around. Any speed issues with loading a firmware like that that hardware? Firmware flash looks worth while.
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 22, 2008
    http://www.wirelessnetworkproducts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1900&gclid=CMuz8an1oZUCFRxNagodKys5kA Anyone ever use something more along the high end bridge line? I dont think a couple Linksys WAP / Bridges are going to do the trick for me. I have two offices across a block that need to be connected... main reason why is for bandwith. We only get DSL at once office, 768k down and Fios at the other location. 50mbps down / 20 mbps up. I wanted to use a wireless bridge to get a 100baseT or Gigabit connection from Lan to Lan. Another Link http://www.solectek.com/index.php
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 24, 2008
    At my house I run two Buffalo WHR-G54S running dd-wrt with one being my gateway/router and the other as a wireless bridge to my office on the other side of the house. I don' t think there' s any speed issues to worry about. I guess in your case what product is best depends on how far " across the block" is and how many obstacles such as walls/buildings are in between the 2 end points. if you have 2 wireless routers capable of running dd-wrt then I would say it' s worth a shot. With dd-wrt you can switch to directional antenna' s to help with signal quality and increase the power that the radios are using. But depending on the distance involved the product you linked to may offer a better solution. -- David
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 24, 2008
    One more thought if you want a 100mbit or faster connection there are some N based wireless routers that work with dd-wrt such as the Linksys WRT310N and Linksys WRT350N. You also may be able to use the native firmware. But these options may be faster than the OBiQUiTi if the range is good enough for your situation. -- David
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 25, 2008
    David, Thanks for the info, I have a few routers I wanted to load dd-wrt just for fun; I wanted to play with some of the settings and see how it compares to something like the Fortinet firewalls. I have a 60WiFi at home; so the linksys routers would just be bridge or AP devices. Just wondering; for someone who is involved with Fortinet, are you using any of their products in your home? I am using mine without a service contract, but am NOT using any of the AV,IPS, Web filtering stuff.
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    August 25, 2008
    I dont think the Linksys with dd-wrt is going to cut it... I got on the roof today and its not a line of sight connection. I did however find this... http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/point-to-point-bridge-circular.php I think I am going to give it a shot and see how it goes.
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    Anonymous_UserAuthor
    Contributor
    September 3, 2008
    I have a connection question and I dont think its a correct or typical way of doing things, but wanted to know if its possible. I use a Fortigate 60 firewall at home and have an SSL VPN so I dont want to take that out of my path. Right now I am conencted: Modem > Fortinet Firewall > LAN 1 Switch Modem > Fortinet Firewall DMZ > Linksys WRT54G Switch for WiFi AP I wanted to use the Linksys as a WiFi HOT SPOT (http://www.hotspotsystem.com) So having an additional firewall in its path; is that going to cause a problem? When using http://www.hotspotsystem.com I guess it wants the WAN1 port to be working... right now the Wan1 port isnt used since its only being used as an AP for my DMZ zone. Can I connect the Fortigate DMZ > Linksys WAN1? Is this just a matter of config?
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