Technical Tip: Transceiver not certified by Fortinet

[mattchow_FTNT]

Description	This article describes possible effects of using a transceiver not certified by Fortinet.
Scope	FortiGate.
Solution	FortiGate firmware contains a list of Fortinet-certified transceivers, which can be retrieved using an API call as per the article Technical Tip: How to check the list of certified transceivers supported by the FortiGate. When the locally-installed transceiver is non-certified, there will be a warning message showing in GUI as in the screenshot below: In many cases, non-certified transceivers can establish a link and pass traffic. However, if an issue is suspected with the non-certified transceiver, Fortinet Technical Assistance Center (TAC) will not be able to verify it, and may request the customer install a certified transceiver to receive support. It is not possible for Fortinet to guarantee the behavior of a non-certified transceiver. Possible effects of using a non-certified transceiver include: A link not showing online even with recommended static settings. A link appearing to come up, but not transmitting or receiving traffic. Link auto-negotiation failing. Health check commands not showing any output. If a link does not come up: in most cases, this is the result of a compatibility issue between the local and peer transceivers, rather than between the FortiGate and the local transceiver. For this reason, it may be helpful to use the same transceiver model and part number on both sides of a link.