FortiAP-221E and FortiOS 7.x compatiblity

[Aubrey_MT]

Working on some FortiOS firmware upgrades and have come to reckon with the FortiAP and FortiSwitch compatibility. I am running a FortiGate -100F and trying to upgrade to FortiOS 7.x, but the FortiAP's I'm running are FortiAP -221E and FortiAP -222E.

I looked at the FortiAP compatibility matrix , but it does not list the 221E or the 222E that I'm using.

Currently the FortiAP's are running 6.4, so based on what I see in the matrix I should be safe to upgrade the FortiGate.

[jiahoong112 · Accepted solution]

E-series for FortiAPs are categorised under FortiAP-W2. Please find the compatibility matrix for that here: https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortiap/7.4.0/fortiap-and-fortios-compatibility-matrix/209640/for... 
FortiAP-221E and 222E can be upgraded to firmware versions above 6.4.x. 

Cheers

[Aubrey_MT]

That's great, thank you for the clarification!

I see that it's recommended that those AP's are supposed to match the FortiOS version. Is that a requirement, or a suggestion? Should I expect serious performance issues if running 6.x on the AP's and 7.x on the Fortigate?

[jlass]

the question is, which firmware to use since none of the file indicates the model AP in it.

only 231 onwards...

[jiahoong112]

On the left column of this page, you can find the compatible firmware version for more FortiAP models: https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortiap/7.4.0/fortiap-and-fortios-compatibility-matrix/261175/for... likewise, you can search for this in the support.fortinet.com portal as well where you download the firmware. If this is not what you meant by your query, please attach a screenshot so that it can be better understood. Thank you.

[jlass]

Thanks for the help.

what I found out is that the new firmware versions for the 221E & 222E are in a different folder.

You have to choose on the drop down list the FortiAP-W2 and then you can download the versions you need for these models.

[jiahoong112]

It is recommended to follow the firmware matching as per the compatibility matrix because if you run into an issue and log a TAC ticket, the first thing TAC will check and suggest is to ensure that the FortiAP and Fortigate firmware is as per the compatibility matrix. We recommend that the FortiAP-W2 firmware version be matched with the respective FortiOS version when available. Other variations of FortiOS and FortiAP-W2 versions may technically work for the lowest common feature set.